The 2008 crop of Japan’s Unshu Mikan tangerine variety is expected to be down about 12 per cent on last year, due to an aging farming population and a falling area under cultivation.
Tangerine crops were also down because of an ‘off year’, with trees yielding slightly less due to their natural production cycle, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Land under Unshu Mikan cultivation has dropped about 18.5 per cent in the last decade to 48,500ha, in a trend largely attributed to Japan’s aging farming population moving off the land.
Japan’s National Fruit Grower’s Shipment Stabilisation Committee pegged production at 940,000 tonnes for the 2008 season, which runs from September to December.
Demand in Japan for the fruit has also declined, along with demand in many other areas in the economically slowing country. A greater percentage of tangerines was sent to processing, including about 20 per cent of the crop intended for fresh sale.
Annual consumption of tangerines in Japan has fallen by about 30 per cent in the last decade, according to the report.
