Horticulture students trial pear growing for the future

WITT horticulture students are putting innovative growing systems into practice through a small trial of the Future Orchard Production System (FOPS) with pears at the Bell Street campus.

The FOPS concept, developed by New Zealand Plant & Food Research, reimagines how fruit trees are structured to improve productivity, fruit quality and orchard efficiency. Instead of traditional open-centre trees, the system uses a candelabra-style espalier structure - a flat, two-dimensional form that allows light to penetrate evenly and simplifies pruning and harvest. The pear tree system is near the gym and basketball courts.

“It’s a very different way of thinking about fruit trees,” says Carl Freeman, horticulture tutor at WITT. “We’re training the trees into a structured wall shape, which makes every branch count. It’s about designing a productive, sustainable tree from the start.”

The small trial forms part of both WITT’s Level 3 Horticulture (General) programme, where students are currently learning pruning and plant structure, and the Level 4 Organic Primary Production programme, which focuses on sustainable and organic growing systems.

“Students can see how these advanced pruning techniques fit into modern orchard systems,” says Carl. “They’re learning to identify diseased or damaged branches, think about airflow and sunlight, and shape the trees for both health and efficiency.”

Caption: Carl Freeman showing horticulture students the trial pear trees growing in the espalier structure.

While the trial is modest in scale, it reflects WITT’s hands-on approach to applied learning and its connection with cutting-edge industry research.

“Plant & Food’s research gives us a window into the future of commercial orcharding,” Carl explains. “We’re not running a commercial orchard, but we can expose our students to ideas that are transforming the sector and get them thinking critically about what the next generation of growing systems might look like.”

The pear trial will continue through the growing season, with students observing how tree structure, growth and fruiting respond to the FOPS approach.