Belgian climate scientists are growing the pears of the future

STORY: A group of climate scientists in Belgium is currently investigating what the pears of the future might look like.

“…the pears are usually less firm and contain more sugar.”

:: THIS EARTH

:: Maasmechelen, Belgium

In the Belgian province of Limburg, the heart of pear cultivation in the country, a special orchard stands out: the orchard consists of a cluster of 12 transparent domes.

“It’s called an ‘Ecotron’, a climate change stimulator.”

In the domes, researchers grow pears in an environment that simulates the effects of climate change on the region in 2040.

Their goal? To understand the impact of climate change on European fruit growers.

This is Francois Rineau, associate professor at Hasselt University.

“So for 2040 it is actually tomorrow, it is only 20 years, but still we see differences in the frequency of heat waves. So heat waves more frequent, droughts more frequent, more intense precipitation events, so even less precipitation in total, and an increasing CO2 concentration.”

The three-year experiment covers three harvests.

The Flemish Centre for Preservation and Breeding (VCBT) is investigating this year’s harvest of pears from the 2040 era.

Researchers compare them to pears growing in domes that simulate the current climate.

Here is Dorien Vanhees, researcher at the VCBT.

“So we measure different things in this lab. We measure the sugar content or the firmness, we also measure how big those pears are, which are from the future and the current climate. And we see that when we have a higher temperature on the trees, the pears tend to be less firm and have more sugar.”

And that’s bad news for growers, because it reduces the amount of pears they can sell.

“More sugar is good for the taste. Less firmness is not good for storage, because if you store them at a lower firmness, they will not keep as long. For the growers, this will reduce the amount of pears they can bring to the market.”

Climate change is already affecting growth patterns across Europe.

In recent years, extreme weather events such as devastating floods, hailstorms and droughts have taken a heavy toll on pear growers.

According to the World Apple and Pear Association, Belgian pear production is expected to fall by as much as 27% this year. This underlines the need for adaptations in view of the changing climate.