It’s the season for harvesting early-maturing mandarins on Jeju Island. Prices for the fruit have been set within the average range, and the provincial government has already set up measures to discard substandard fruit from the market.
Todd Thacker reports.

Report


This is a mandarin farm in (조천읍) Jocheon-eup, Jeju City.
Early-maturing mandarins are being harvested.



Over the summer, the long rainy season and consecutive typhoons left mandarin growers concerned.
But favorable weather conditions in September and October have resulted in high-quality produce.



Early-maturing mandarin prices have been set at 9,400 won for 5 kilograms. That's about the same as the average for previous years.

Industry watchers expect production to top 528,000 tons this year. That's 7 percent above the five-year average.
To address concerns about possible overproduction, the province is overseeing the shipment of early-harvest mandarins, as well as the disposal of substandard produce.

Jeju will buy up substandard fruit for disposal at 180 won per kilogram.
1.8 billion won has been earmarked for the program. At least 10,000 tons of produce will be purchased by the end of November.
The province aims to control supply and reduce inventory pressure for fruit juice producers.


Beginning this year, the shipping of fruit that is larger than standard size will be banned even if sugar content exceeds 10 Brix.
With these higher standards in place, farmers are likely to find more of their crops rejected.
Last year, the province bought a total of 11,000 tons of mandarins for disposal.


Insiders hope that measures to dispose of substandard mandarins early on in the season will help to stabilize the island’s fruit prices for the year.

Todd Thacker, KCTV