Peace Tangerine

Peace Tangerine

　　　Peace Tangerine is mainly produced in Heping County. The Peace tangerine tree is semi-arboreal with an oval-shaped canopy, relatively upright and semi-spreading growth habit. Its branches are gray-green and relatively dense. The leaves are elliptical, measuring 5–9 cm in length and 2–3 cm in width, with bluntly serrated edges, tapering to a point at the tip and slightly rounded at the base. The leaf color is dark green and smooth. The fruit is flat-round, with a vertical diameter of about 6 cm, a horizontal diameter of 7–9 cm, and a single fruit weight of 120–150 grams, reaching up to over 350 grams for the largest fruits. The peel is medium-thick, slightly coarse, glossy, and orange-yellow. The taste is sweet, with a sugar content of 10–14% and an acid content of 0.6–0.9%. The seeds are oval-shaped, medium to large in size, with 5–8 seeds per fruit. The tree blooms from Qingming to Grain Rain and matures in mid-November. Cultivation requires deep soil layers, fertile soil, ample sunlight, and convenient irrigation and drainage. The yield per plant is 50–100 kilograms, making it suitable for planting in northern Guangdong and southern Jiangxi regions.

　　Peace Tangerine is one of the main fruit varieties cultivated in Heping County, Heyuan City. Its fruit is characterized by being fresh, sweet, crisp, juicy, and easy to eat, making it suitable for all ages. It is available on the market in mid-November and is mainly distributed in towns such as Shangling and Daba in Heping County. The Peace Tangerine was originally discovered as an outstanding individual citrus tree by Huang Jinfang, a fruit-growing specialist in Shangling Town, Heping County, within a Satsuma mandarin orchard. After an on-site investigation by fruit company technicians, it was confirmed to be a Peace Tangerine. The fruit's external appearance and flavor were found to be superior to other similar varieties. Therefore, the company’s technicians recommended that Huang Jinfang propagate it through grafting and continue observation. The resulting fruits exhibited consistent external characteristics and no differences in flesh flavor compared to the parent tree. In 1991, a mother tree orchard was established. Under the guidance of fruit technicians, fertilization, water management, and pest control were strengthened, leading to a significant improvement in both the yield and quality of the Peace Tangerine mother tree orchard. The price per kilogram of the fruit rose from the original 2 yuan to 4 yuan. The success of the mother tree demonstration orchard boosted seedling sales, prompting farmers from parts of Shangling, Daba, and Yousheng in Heping County to spontaneously purchase seedlings and start cultivating Peace Tangerines. Since then, the planting area of Peace Tangerines has continued to expand.