![]() ![]() Doryeon-dong tangerine treesĭoryeon-dong is home to six native tangerine trees that were designated Natural Monuments on January 13, 2011. ![]() Jeju tangerines are the embodiment of the island's centuries of history as well as its unlimited potential. Indeed, the tangerines that we enjoy today may very well be the result of many different flavors and textures that have been cultivated and crossbred for centuries. Tangerines are believed to have arrived in Jeju Island during the Three Kingdoms Period. The best native varieties are selected and then crossbred with one another to create a higher-quality strain-this never-ending cycle of crossbreeding and improvement produces dozens of types of tangerines. ![]() “Farmers will need incentives and support to be encouraged to switch to growing newly-developed domestic types of tangerine trees.On Jeju Island, tangerines and Mandarin oranges (called mangam in Korean) emerge each month in slightly different flavors and shapes. “Even if a new variety of tangerine is developed here, it will take around five years for the tree to grow and bear fruit,” said Song Kwan-jeong, professor of horticulture and agricultural plant science at the Jeju National University. Some experts are calling for more government support for Korea to develop its own types of tangerines. But most of them were imported more than 50 years ago, so farmers don’t have to pay royalties. “There is still the possibility that royalties will be charged after the patent registration goes through.”Ībout 94 percent of the types of tangerines being grown in Jeju originated in Japan, according to the Jeju Agricultural Research and Extension Services. “After the announcement, branch offices of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation on the island are holding meetings about the next course of action,” said a member of the Jeju branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said its interpretation of the law was that it does not apply to harvests from the seedlings. 19 requested the central government to make an authoritative interpretation of the Act on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and whether it applies to both seedlings and fruit. Upon some farmers’ request, the Jeju provincial government on Dec. “But after the announcement, I couldn’t harvest the fruits in December. “I spent sweat and blood growing the tangerines for the past year,” said a 73-year-old farmer surnamed Song who has a 6,600 square-meter Mihaya tangerine farm in Seogwipo. ![]() “I’ve spent the past year growing them and now I don’t know if I can sell any of them.” “I bought the Asumi seedlings from a company that imported it directly from Japan,” said a 44-year-old farmer surnamed Kim who has a 2,300 square-meter (0.5 acre) Asumi tangerine farm in Seogwipo, Jeju. The situation for local farmers got worse in November, when Jeju’s provincial government and the island’s branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation said the ban may apply to both the fruit and the seedlings. In the meantime, sale of the seedlings for the two types of tangerines has been banned in the country based on the Act on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.Ī violator can be fined up to 100 million won ($89,590) or sentenced up to seven years. It usually takes around two years for such requests to be completely processed in Korea. The request for protection over these two tangerine types was submitted to the South Korean government on Jan. Their fate hangs on the verdict of an application by the Japanese government to register the two types of tangerines as patents unique to Japan. Seedlings were imported to Korea and 208 farms on Jeju are growing some 920 tons of Asumi and Mihaya tangerines today. The types are Asumi and Mihaya, which were developed at a research and development agency in 2014 in Japan. The fate of some 900 tons of tangerines in Jeju Island remains up in the air after Japan recently applied for protection of two tangerine varieties. Jeju tangerines threatened by Japan’s action ![]()
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