National Durian Vol. 7

The issue of durian appearing to have burning seed coat (Aril Tip Burn) has been continually plaguing the agricultural world while leaving the industry players feeling helpless. What is burning seed coat? The most common issue faced by consumers is unknowingly buying durians with hard flesh. In the past, most of the durians with hard flesh were Kampung variety. However, there are also other well - known varieties that have a similar issue such as the D24 and Musang King. Musang King is a well-established durian variety in the market and among farmers thus it is cultivated in large quantity. This is due to its stable quality and it is convenient to be cultivated. However, it is unexpected for Musang King variety to have hard flesh. If Musang King durians…

As the pioneer durian exporter, Thailand merchants have a very systematic and perfect management system in exporting durian to China, and Malaysia is catching up with them. Over the past few decades, China Chinese has grown fonder for durians and their demand for premium fresh durians are getting higher and higher. As the living standard of China Chinese gradually improved, their pursuit for superior quality agriculture produce remains strong and they are willing to spend more money and time for good product. Just like cherries and avocados, durian exported from Malaysia has becoming one of the popular fruits in the China Chinese’s home. Lead by Alibaba, Malaysia’s frozen whole durian has successfully entered the China market. In conjunction with the Joint Statement on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed by governments of…

As the pioneer in exporting whole fresh durians to China, Thailand has now seamlessly integrated a more efficient manner in handling logistics with supply chain workflows. However, are their durian exports supply chains similar with ours? Let’s look into how the Thailand Golden Pillow (D159) or fondly known as Monthong durians are transported from orchards through Alibaba’s Cainiao Network logistics platform to China within a mere120 hours. Thailand most famous variety of durian, Golden Pillow (D159) produced from Thailand is shipped to China. Besides air freight, they also use land and sea routes: 1) Overland shipment route Container trucks loaded with durians would pass through Thai-Myanmar border heading directly to Yunnan in China. Then fruits would be then transported to cold chain warehouses across 11 regions in China. 2) Sea…

Strong north wind has caused durian farmers in Northern Johor to face serious deciduous. Due to this, their output has been greatly affected compared to the previous year. One of the affected farmers is Tee Cheng Yong. His durian orchard, which covers about 3.5 acres of land, is located in Sagil, Johor. According to him, the north wind is a strong wind blowing from the north and the general direction is from Mount Ophir that is located nearby the orchard. Normally, the north wind would blow from February to March towards Tangkak every year. “However, it is quite abnormal this year as the north wind is particularly strong,” Tee Cheng Yong pointed out. This unusually strong wind affects the durian trees. In addition to blowing off the long branches, it…

June till July is durian maturing season, hence harvesting period is around the corner, with excitement we welcome the fall of the first batch of fruits for the year, at the same time cleanse off the negative vibes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. However, when tasting this long-awaited fruit, some farmers discovered an increase in aril tip burn problem, especially for Musang King and D24 varieties. What is aril tip burn? What exactly causes the problem of aril tip burn? In tip burn, the ends of the aril appear dark brown, as if the aril got burned. The questions that the farmers have surrounding this issue have always been: Is there lack of certainfertilizer? Was it caused by excessive fertilizing? Insufficient trace elements? Or the timing of fertilization was…

One of the challenges that farmers face with durian seedlings are pale or yellow-streaked leaves, high rates of crumbly leaves falling off, spindly and dry stems etc. According to Choon Thin Yat, an experienced durian farmer, one should look at this issue from a broader perspective in order to understand the underlying causes and solutions. Causes and solutions of pale or yellow-streaked leaves: 1 EXCESSIVE IRRIGATION Although the main function of the roots is to absorb water, it still needs to breathe at the same time to ensure normal growth. Excessive irrigation will cause hypoxic injury to the roots. This in turn will lead to pale or yellow-streaked discoloration and leaves shedding. Generally, young leaves of the seedlings will gradually become pale before it turns into yellow and finally fall…