Year-end harvest support at Uwajima's Ueda Farm in Ehime Prefecture's Nanyo region for Satsuma mandarins (Nankitsu No. 20🍊)! (First visit since July's grass cutting). The steep, southeast-facing orchard at 250m elevation is laden with fruit🍊, and harvesting begins around sunrise🌞. While Ehime's citrus terraced slopes are commonly known as “danbata” (段畑), locals refer to them as “doha” (土坡), essentially earthen embankments.
Now, about the harvest: this time, I brought my own pruning shears ✄. In the Uwajima area, the process involves hanging baskets 🧺 from the trees and picking each fruit by hand. Once enough are gathered, they're transferred to containers. Finally, a crawler tractor collects them and loads them onto trucks on the farm roads.
Transportation methods evolved from carrying loads on the back using tools like the “oiko” or balance poles, to the construction of farm roads and the installation of cableways. A transport device called the “Sarumokko” (monkey basket), similar to a ropeway, was also used. Currently, the monorail (Monorack: a product name by Nikkari) developed in 1966 is the mainstream method.
With organic farming, the tree leaves are incredibly vigorous and the soil is fluffy, which ironically makes it easy to sink in. So tabi socks or well-fitting boots and a hat are absolutely essential. Harvesting continues as the sun 🌇 sinks in the west. On this day, four people filled about 80 containers. At 20kg per container, that's a 1.6-ton 🍊 harvest. Incidentally, depending on the variety, some skilled workers can harvest up to 30 containers. The harvest continues...👍.
Viewing this harvest operation from the perspective of developing export production areas, I realized that alongside advancements in machinery and tools, creating orchards that facilitate efficient work (labor-saving), improving the environment for organic cultivation, and promoting it are essential for maintaining and expanding the region.
年末、愛媛県南予、宇和島・上田農園で温州みかん（南柑20号🍊）の収穫応援（7月草刈り以来の訪問）です！標高250m南東向き急こう配の園地は🍊豊富に実り、日の出🌞の頃合いから収穫が始まります。愛媛県柑橘の傾斜地は通常段々畑（段畑：だんばた）と言われ親しまれていますが、地元の方々の間では、土羽(どは、土坡)と呼ばれるそうで、いわゆる土の堤です。
さて収穫、今回からマイ採果ハサミ✄を持参。宇和島地区ではカゴ🧺を木にぶら下げて1個1個手摘み、ある程度溜まったらコンテナに移し替え最後にクローラーで回収し農道のトラック積載という段取りになります。
昔の運搬は荷物を背負う道具「おいこ」や天秤棒から始まり、農道が作られ索道が引かれ「サルモッコ（猿モッコ）」というロープ―ウェイのような運搬機が使われたそうです。現在は1966年に開発されたモノレール（モノラック：ニッカリ製品名）が主流です。
有機栽培は兎に角、樹木葉っぱが元気で土がフカフカで逆に足がとられやすいので、足袋や足にフィットした靴と、帽子はマストです。陽🌇が西に沈んでいくのを見ながら収穫は続き、この日は4人で約80コンテナ。@20㎏として1.6トン🍊の収穫でした。因みに品種にも拠りますが、多い人で30コンテナ収穫するそうです。。まだまだ収穫は続きます‥👍。
今回の収穫業務を輸出産地造成の観点から見ると、機械や道具の進化に合わせ、作業をしやすい園地作り（省力化）と有機栽培の環境改善や宣伝が地域の維持拡大に必要なことだと思いました。