Name Ikuro Takahashi | ||
Ikuro Takahashi (高橋 郁郎, Takahashi Ikurō, 1892–1981) was a Japanese botanist, specializing in citrus, who was hailed as the "father of citrus" especially in his native Shizuoka Prefecture.
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After graduating from the prefectural nōgakko (ja) or "agricultural college," he enrolled in the apprenticeship/internship system established by the then-Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and learned his skills at the local state-run agricultural experiment station under the Horticultural Department. After a stint in Kumamoto Prefecture, he returned to the old department which was being reorganized as the ministerial Horticultural Experiment Station, where he served as horticultural engineer (1921). Later he served his home prefecture, and was appointed the first head of the Shizuoka Prefectural Citrus Experiment Station, which was his own brainchild (1940). His chief work includes Kankitsu ("Citrus"), which went through some five revisions. He was the long-time chief writer and editor of Kajitsu Nippon, a journal of fruit agriculture.
He published the scientific name Citrus sulcata hort. ex. Ik.Takah. (or I.Takah.) for a type of citrus known as sanbōkan (ja:サンボウカン).
General
He conducted numerous experiments and data-collection for growing citrus, exploring and field testing various soil improvement, fertilizing, parasite prevention, disinfection, and pruning techniques. The knowledge he amassed he lectured nationwide. Keeping abreast of orange industries abroad, particularly America, he would frequently provide first in-depth coverage in Japan of citrus-growing techniques developed overseas. Not strictly limited to concerns about orchard technology, he also addressed economic issues such as international pricing and competition, the future viability of canned mandarin oranges and juices, and the need for producers' cooperatives (shukka kumiai), and was outspoken even about taxation of orchards.
During World War II, he opposed national policy to log down orchards to be converted into potato and wheat fields. After the war, he made strenuous efforts to revive the satsuma orange industry.
His eldest son Yutaka Takahashi is an academic in civil engineering and emeritus professor at Tokyo University. His eldest daughter, Yuriko Takahashi taught nursing at Aichi Prefectural Junior College of Nursing.