Meiying Lu

Jiaxing Xiuzhou Wan Ziqianhong Fruit & Vegetable Professional Cooperative, Jiaxing, 314019, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Plant Gene and Trait, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 5   
Received: 16 Aug., 2026    Accepted: 19 Sep., 2026    Published: 27 Oct., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Stable pear production depends on coordinating vegetative and reproductive growth to maintain a dynamic balance among tree architecture, fruiting wood renewal, crop load, and resource supply. This review examines the roles of tree training, pruning, and crop-load regulation in stable pear production. It summarizes the biological basis of shoot growth, flower bud formation, and alternate bearing; evaluates the effects of different training systems on canopy structure, ventilation and light distribution, fruiting position, and yield formation; and discusses the effects of winter pruning, summer pruning, and pruning intensity on fruiting wood renewal and tree vigor. Particular attention is given to the effects of flower and fruit load on source-sink relationships, nutrient allocation, fruit quality, and return bloom, as well as to the synergistic interactions among tree training, pruning, and crop-load regulation in relation to tree carrying capacity, fruiting wood arrangement, and the balance between vegetative and reproductive growth. Excessive tree vigor, overly severe pruning, and excessive crop load can disrupt the balance between growth and fruiting, whereas appropriate training systems, moderate pruning, timely flower and fruit thinning, and coordinated irrigation and fertilization can improve the canopy light environment, fruit quality, and yield stability while reducing alternate bearing. In the future, pear orchard management should integrate three-dimensional phenotyping, machine vision, intelligent modeling, and precision water and nutrient management, gradually shifting from experience-based practices toward quantitative, dynamic, and precision regulation based on tree vigor, canopy structure, and carrying capacity, thereby providing technical support for long-term stable and efficient pear production.

Pear; Tree training and pruning; Crop-load regulation; Alternate bearing; Stable production