Pear scab (Venturia pyrina) - toward understanding and disease management

European pear scab (Venturia pyrina) is an economically important disease in most of the European pear (Pyrus communis) growing areas worldwide, especially in organic pear cultivation. The dominance of scab-susceptible pear cultivars, such as ‘Conference’, is one of the major problems in organic pear growing. In addition, control of pear scab is hampered due to a lack of effective organic crop protection products and the more complex life cycle compared to apple scab (Venturia inaequalis). There is an urgent need for resistant and competitive pear cultivars. However, breeding programs for pear scab-resistant cultivars are still under development. Knowledge of the epidemiology of pear scab is required for the development of sustainable control strategies. Despite the increasing economic significance of V. pyrina, research on control methods, pathogen biology, and disease epidemiology is still limited. The aim of the review is to give an overview of Venturia pyrina significance and distribution, control methods, and scientific progress in the understanding of the pathogen and the disease resistance.