Pear quality under a 2040 climate

A four-year VLAIO project assessing how pear quality will be affected by climate change.

Partners: VCBT
PCFruit
UHasselt Ecotron
Period: 2022 – Present
Setup: 6 units · 2 trees per unit · 3 ambient / 3 projected
Funding: VLAIO

Pear trees inside an ecotron dome exposed to 2040 climate projections. — Pear trees exposed to 2040 climate projections, end of August 2023.

Overview

QPEAR is a four-year VLAIO project run in collaboration with VCBT (Vlaams Centrum voor Bewaring van Tuinbouwproducten) and PCFruit (Proefcentrum Fruitteelt VZW). Its goal is to assess how pear quality will be affected by climate change.

While the other partners conduct field experiments varying one climate parameter at a time, the ecotron is used to simulate future climate in a more holistic way, exposing pear trees to local projections of the RCP 8.5 scenario, including air temperature and humidity, CO₂, rainfall, wind speed, and soil water tension.

Six ecotron units are dedicated to the experiment, each hosting two pear trees: three units run under ambient projections, three under projections for 2040. Ecosystem response is measured in real time, with the first fruits harvested in autumn 2023.

Variables measured

Evapotranspiration
Carbon balance
Greenhouse gas emissions
Phenology
Soil hydrology
Fruit quality at harvest