M’sia Durians Expected To Be Cheaper & Better This Season As Farmers See Larger Harvests

Farmers Expect Cheaper Durian Prices Due To Good Harvest

Durian season is well on the way for those who are fans of the King of Fruits.

Apparently this season, farmers in Malaysia are expecting a bountiful harvest even with the recent spate of storms.

Reports from farmers in Penang, Malaysia reveal that prices may be cheaper due to the large harvests.

They expect some orchards to even have fruits until late October.

Malaysia durians expected to be cheaper this season, which may run till late October

Speaking to The Star, durian seller Mr Tan Chee Keat shared that customers can look forward to “better quantity and quality of durians this year”.

Additionally, this year’s season is expected to be long with some orchards potentially having fruits until late October.

Mr Tan shared that the harvests in the past few years pale in comparison to this season’s.

“Since it will be a good harvest this year, we can reduce the prices,” he said.

Citing the example of the popular Musang King, Mr Tan estimates that the fruits will cost between RM20 (S$5.98) and RM30 (S$8.97) per kilogram.

While previously, it was going for RM40 (S$11.95).

In general, he estimates a five to 10% drop in prices across all fruits.

Mr Chang Zhi Vooi — the owner of Bao Sheng durian farm in Penang — echoed the positive sentiments.

Mr Chang shared that his supply of durians will be “equally spread out” over the subsequent months.

While he predicts the yield to be similar to that of previous years, Mr Chang shared his relief that he no longer has to work non-stop as he would during a shorter season.

Good harvest despite storms

An earlier report by The Star in March predicted that this year’s season will be a bumper harvest due to hot weather.

In fact, a local durian seller in Penang expected 70% more yield due to favourable conditions.

Apart from the heat, the consistent rainfall also reportedly created a suitable environment for durians to grow and ripen.

In Johor, however, orchards were negatively affected by the floods in March.

Speaking to The Star, Malaysian Fruit Farmer’s association vice-president Francis Hong Sun Ho shared that the floods occurred at an inopportune time.

“This time, the flood happened during the flowering season, which is a critical time as it determines how many fruits farmers would get,” he said.

At the time, Mr Hong predicted that prices would increase due to the damaged crops and lower yield.

Durians likely to be cheaper this upcoming season

Thankfully though, farmers in Penang are seemingly seeing better days.

Since the season is likely to last until October, durian lovers in Singapore have some time to plan a trip up north.

Don’t wait too long though, as you can never predict Mother Nature.

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Featured image adapted from 691 Balik Pulau on Facebook and Facebook.