Kagawa Obarabeniwase Mikan

"Kagawa Obarabeniwase Mikan" is an unshu mikan characterized by a bright crimson skin. It is said to have the reddest peel of the nearly 100 unshu mikan varieties cultivated in Japan.
　By checking the growing conditions in each orchard and giving careful advice on cultivation control appropriate to the conditions, fruits having balanced sweetness and acidity are produced throughout the entire region. Further, through strict quality control, only fruit with good eating quality is distributed.
　Especially those cultivated and harvested in greenhouses are traded at high prices as "red and sweet mikan" that can be eaten in the summer, which is not the unshu mikan season.

"Kagawa Obarabeniwase Mikan" is unshu mikan grown in Kagawa Prefecture using the variety "Obarabeniwase".
　It is produced by following original cultivation control rules from planting to harvesting. Moreover, a local technical advisor goes round orchards and gives advice on cultivation control appropriate to the conditions of each orchard.
　The fruits are shipped based on the shipping standards of Kagawa Obarabeniwase Mikan.

Because the production area has little rainfall and long hours of sunlight from summer to autumn, it is suited for the mikan cultivation. Thus, high-quality mikans have been cultivated in this area from old times.
　"Obarabeniwase" was accidentally discovered in Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture, in 1973 as a "bud mutation ⁽¹⁾" that produced red fruits. Local people propagated the mutant by grafting and have made long efforts to develop it into an original variety of Kagawa Prefecture.
　The producing area has a history of increasing consumer recognition and establishing the product as a specialty via advertising as well as breeding.
　On the occasion of "Kagawa Obarabeniwase Mikan" being listed in the national registry of plant varieties in 1993, the "Production Promotion Association of Registered Variety Obarabeniwase Mikan" was founded.
　As a result of seedling propagation and promotion activities to disseminate the production technique, producing area has expanded to other parts of the prefecture, and production volumes have increased. The fruits are also being exported today.

1. Bud mutation: A phenomenon in which a certain branch of a plant undergoes a change in trait due to spontaneous mutation, etc.