Pest and disease management can be one of the major challenges in an intensive pear orchard. Management of pests and diseases requires growers to

• understand the life cycle of pests and diseases and their predators,
• monitor pest and disease levels in the orchards using the appropriate tools/techniques 
• keep good records of pest/disease levels
• take action if damage reaches an unacceptable level
• evaluate control methods at the end of each season
• plan ahead for the next season.

Growers also need to be constantly on the look out for potential new pest and disease threats and seek local advice regarding pest and disease identification and management.  

There are numerous resources already available for growers to understand pest and disease identification and management in pears. Rather than duplicate existing work, the aim of this page is to provide links to pest and disease management information.

Important pest and diseases for Australian pear orchards  

Further information 

Important pest and diseases for Australian pear orchards

 Some of the most important pests and diseases for pear orchards include                         

• Codling moth
• Lightbrown apple moth
• Pear and cherry slug
• Pearleaf blister mite
• Pear scab
• Queensland Fruit fly 
• San Jose scale
• Two-spotted mite
• European red mite
• Thrips
• Oriental fruit moth
• Longtailed mealy bug

Information on the life cycles and management strategies for these pests and diseases can be found in Further Information.

Figure 1: Two-spotted mite damage in 'Williams' trees.

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Further information

There are various sites from Australia and around the world providing information on pest and disease in pears. These sites may be useful for growers. However they are intended as an information source only. Any specific chemical or other control recommendations may be outdated or irrelevant for Australian conditions and growers should seek local advice.

Please note: By electing to visit sites linking from this page you will be leaving the intensivepear.com website.

Australian Resources

• DPI Victoria AgNotes- Department of Primary Industries Victoria has a number of factsheets about pests and diseases for pears (external link).
• DPI NSW AgFacts  - Department of Primary Industries NSW also has a range of factsheets about pests and diseases for pears (external link).
• 'Orchard Plant Protection Guide for Deciduous Fruits in NSW' - A valuable resource developed by the Department of Primary Industries NSW (external link).
• Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia - Some information on pests and diseases for pears (external link).

International Resources

•  Online guide to plant disease control - Oregan state university extension (external link).
• Tree fruit and small fruit disease factsheets - Cornell university collection of factsheets from a range of university programs in the USA (external link).

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