A mandarin farmer changed his greenhouse temperature and watering schedule, with some interesting results; sweet, sweet oranges.

Prices for a small 1.5 kilogram box of the oranges have climbed high, and now sit at 22,000 won.

Joseph Kim reports.



Report

[Slug] Daeheul-ri, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City

Inside this greenhouse, ripe mandarin oranges are hang heavy on the trees.

Farmers are busy picking them. The orange harvest season will be over in a month.

These oranges are an early harvest species called “(성전) Seongjeon”.

The greenhouse owner started bringing the fruits to market last year.

[Slug] Sugar content over 19 degrees brix

The fruit quality is outstanding this year.

The sugar content is over 19 degrees brix on average. The lowest is 17 degrees brix.






--CG

2만2천원: \22,000
1.5 kg
고당도감귤: High Sugar Content

2만원: \20,000
10 kg
노지감귤: Outdoor Grown


That is much higher than sweet oranges already in the market. Oranges over 12 degrees brix are called “sweet” oranges.

Also, the rate of swollen oranges at the farm is far lower than average.

Early watering in summer and high indoor temperatures lead to sweeter results.

Farmers started watering one month earlier than usual and increased the temperature by 5 degrees Celsius.

INTERVIEW
Han Cheol-seung / Sweet mandarin grower
Mandarin growers usually stop watering beginning in mid or late-August. But we stopped watering in early July, and then watered the trees in very small quantities regularly. This stressed the trees and produced sweeter fruits.

<인터뷰 : 한철승 / 고당도감귤 재배 농민>
“기존에는 8월 중·하순부터 단수를 시작했었는데, 작년에는 7월 초순부터 단수에 들어갔거든요. 단수하고 정기적으로 조금씩 물을 주는 형태로 관리하다 보니까 감귤이 스트레스를 많이 받다보니까 당도가 상승한게 아닌가….”

Consumers seem to like the sweet mandarin.

Prices of a 1.5 kilogram box of the oranges were set at 22,000 won at the (가락) Garak Joint Market in Seoul this month.

That’s seven times more expensive than the outdoor grown mandarin variety, of which prices are 20,000 won per 10 kilograms.

The Jeju Mandarin Cooperative Federation that guided the new farming method is now coming up with plans to classify the oranges at the market, and to ensure that prices will be set according to sugar content.

INTERVIEW
Kim Yong-ho / Rep., Jeju Mandarin Cooperative
We’re classifying mandarins by sugar content and shipping them separately. The price of each category will be set differently. We’re coming up with marketing strategies for each category.
<인터뷰 : 김용호 / 제주감귤농협 조합장>
“생산된 감귤을 당도별로 선과해서 여기에 상표를 달리해서 소비지에 공급할 때, 소비지의 요구에 따라서 가격이 차별화 될 것이다. 그렇기 때문에 생산과 연계된 세분화된 판매전략을 수립해서….”

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Ko Moon-su

The federation is now trying to find solutions to fight against pests found in the greenhouse for higher yields of the sweet mandarin.

Joseph Kim, KCTV