Applicability of using spray pollination in two Japanese pear cultivars 'Akizuki' and 'Shuurei'.

We investigated the applicability of using spray pollination to pollinate two Japanese pear cultivars, ‘Akizuki’ and ‘Shuurei’. The level of fruit set in both cultivars after spray pollination using media containing 0.3% (w/v) pollen grains, 0.1% (w/v) agar and 10% (w/v) sucrose was almost the same as the level after hand pollination. Even if not pollinated, some fruits with intact seeds were set on ‘Akizuki’ and ‘Shuurei’, indicating that both cultivars are weakly self-incompatible. In addition, a small number of fruit without intact seeds was set on ‘Akizuki’, indicating that this cultivar is parthenocarpic or pseudo-parthenocarpic similar to ‘Kosui’, another Japanese pear cultivar. With regard to fruit size, shape and other fruit quality parameters, spray pollination and hand pollination gave comparable results. Thus, spray pollination is a labor-saving method for cultivating ‘Akizuki’ and ‘Shuurei’ Japanese pears.