Standardized Cultivation Techniques for Dry-Raised Sparse Planting of Rice in Ningxia
Clean the pear orchard by scraping off the rough and cracked bark on the trees to destroy the cocoons and pupae of pests such as the pear fruit borer and the pear stinging caterpillar; sweep up dead branches, fallen leaves and mummified fruit to reduce the sources of infection for diseases such as pear scab, brown spot and powdery mildew; prune out diseased and damaged leaves, branches and trunks to eliminate the overwintering larvae of the pear bark miner and the pear stem sawfly; the cleared material should be buried deep in a centralized pit or burned.
Irrigation and fertilization: irrigate during the period from leaf fall to soil freezing to improve the pear trees' winter hardiness; in spring, irrigate 10 days before flowering, and according to tree age and tree vigor, apply 0.5-1 kg of urea per tree to promote flowering and leaf development.
Deep digging of the tree plate: in early winter or early spring, dig about 30 cm deep around the tree plate to eliminate pests such as scarab beetles.
Rational pruning: thin out excessively dense branches; lightly prune scaffold branches and weak branches, and heavily cut back vigorous branches; do not prune strong fruiting branch groups, and cut weak fruiting branch groups back to a vigorous branching point; if the central leader is too vigorous, it can be headed back at 1-2 slightly weak buds before a good bud zone; if it is too weak, the stronger or upright branches on the lower main branches can be thinned out or cut back, or a vigorous branch can be used to renew the head; non-upright vigorous branches can be left unpruned and weak branches thinned out; upright vigorous branches can be renewed with a weak branch or twisted and injured in early spring to stimulate new branch growth.
Pre-bud spraying: 20 days before bud break, spray once with 3 degrees Baumé lime sulfur to control pests and diseases such as red spider mites, scale insects and valsa canker.