National Durian Vol. 6

Soon Pik Loong is one of the most active durian farmers in fertilizing his trees. He manages a 50 acre of durian orchard in Sg. Chetang, Pahang. Soon Pik Loong has long produced the Musang King durian variety for the local and foreign markets. He mainly cultivates D24 variety which accounts for 60% of the orchard while the remaining 40% is the Musang King (D197) variety. No matter what variety it is, the most important part of cultivation for him is to fertilization. He will apply 20 tonnes of fertilizers before flower buds begin to appear. Durian trees begin to flower in March and the fruits ripen by June. Following that, another harvesting season would take place in September. It is common for all his trees to simultaneously flower at…

In the past, we only see durian fruit collectors stationed along the road side of Raub during harvesting season, “Now, no matter when, basically there will be numerous durian fruit collectors stationed along the road side and waiting for durians” said Derick Beh. Derick Beh is the orchard manager of Indigo Nursery. His 90 acres of orchard is located at Tras, Pahang. Musang King (D197) is the main durian varieties planted in his orchard, while the rest are D24 and Bamboo Feet (D160). Based on his observations, Raub attracted numerous fruit collectors stationed there permanently. This is mainly due to the fact that Raub is well-known for its large quantity durian production with superior fruit quality. “In reality, it is not difficult for farmers to produce durians continuously. Many regions…

Tee Pian Lam is an experienced durian farmer from Lengga, Johor. He had a bountiful harvest in February 2020 through proper fertilization. No local farmers are able to achieve this during that period. This is because the harvest period is usually not anywhere near Lunar New Year and once the holiday season begins, work is usually suspended. Besides that, the prices of durians are not ideal during long holidays. Other than that, due to the climate, very few farmers are able to harvest fruit in February. This was the normal until Tee Pian Lam came into the picture. SOIL DEGRADATION CAUSED BY CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS “It is undeniable that the price of durian is high. Durian farmers would still profit from their harvest even it is affected by environmental factors such…

Although the exports of Thailand were affected by the global economic situation which caused overall shrinkage in 2019, durian exports still increased in the past four years with an average growth rate of more than 37%. According to China customs, they imported 593,000 tons of durians from Thailand with a value of more than RMB10.69 billion (about RM6.2 billion) from January to November. This is a significant increase from 41.9% to 54.8% over the same period of time in the previous year. Chinese companies have currently massively penetrating durian industry in Thailand. According to statistics, there are 617 durian acquisitions and grading packaging plants in Thailand of which 35 are Chinese companies. 216 companies are involved in durian exports. Around 30% of these companies are Chinese. There are 2 Chinese…

When it comes to fertilization, everyone has questions like what fertilizer to apply, how to apply, and when to apply? However, it is not easy to answer these questions accurately. Just as medical doctors could not diagnose a patient merely based on apparent symptoms, they have to conduct comprehensive observations and testings coupled with analysis of essential details in order to come up with an effective treatment plan. The same applies to crops, it must go through diagnostic process, namely “three diagnosis” method, history taking, site assessment and physical examination, taking into account other factors such as weather, soil, plant growth stage etc. to offer effective and efficient fertilization. Malaysia is the second largest oil palm producer in the world. Some farmers inaccurately applied their years of oil palm plantation…

The durian kampung is a household name in Malaysian that has a nostalgic connotation among the older generation as they grew up savouring it. One interesting feature of the durian kampung is its multi flavours which would definitely attract durian lovers of the current generation. Unfortunately, ever since the Musang King (D197) has been commercialised, durian kampung has gradually been ignored. “Each of this durian kampung is very rich in taste. What adds to its uniqueness is that it can be both bitter and sweet, pungent, dry and wet. Its taste is a combination of a few that it is indescribable,” said Kuan Kian Seng whose orchard is located in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan near to a forest reserve. The old trees in the orchard were originally cultivated using rice. This…