A pair of high-end persimmons harvested in central Japan fetched 540,000 yen ($4,750) at the season's first auction at a local wholesale market on Thursday.

The cultivar, developed by the Gifu prefectural government over 10 years and put on the market last year, is crispy and has a sugar content of at least 18 percent compared to the around 16 percent of other products, according to a local agricultural cooperative.

Last year, a pair of the premium persimmons were sold for 324,000 yen.

These top quality products, including a persimmon from the same harvest with a sugar content of more than 25 percent, are being sold at a branch of Matsuzakaya department store in Nagoya. A total of 2,000 of the persimmons are expected to be shipped by early November, with the retail price starting from 1,000 yen per piece.

High-end persimmons priced at more than 10,000 yen for a set of three will be sold in golden gift boxes.

"The weather was not very good this year, but farmers' efforts made the persimmons very sweet," an official of the agricultural cooperative said.

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