Durian lovers can look forward to enjoying better quality fruits at a cheaper price this year, said several durian sellers and farm owners. This comes following an expected bountiful harvest, with the durian season set to begin soon.

According to durian seller Tan Chee Keat, the prices for most fruits will likely drop by 5% to 10%. As such, durians like the popular Musang King may cost only between RM20 to RM30 per kg this season, as compared to RM40 per kg previously.

Tan said that in the past few years, many farm owners saw smaller harvests, and this limited supply of fruits translated to a considerable hike in prices for the public. “Since it’ll be a good harvest this year, we can reduce the prices,” he stated, adding that this is actually a surprise for him, given the fact that he recently suffered a loss of RM1 million after a storm hit his durian farm in Balik Pulau.

“I did not expect the storm to happen during an extremely hot spell. This is rare. But we managed to carry out pest management successfully, which resulted in better quantity and quality of durians this year. The durian season is going to be long. Some orchards may have the fruits until late October,” Tan further commented.

Tan also noted that the durian season will peak in June and July, with some farms already ready to distribute their harvests to traders by early next week.

Similarly, owner of the popular Bao Sheng durian farm in Penang, Chang Zhi Vooi is optimistic that business will be good for him and other merchants like him this coming season. This is as the supply will be equally spread out over the next few months.

“This means that we will not be too busy, compared to when the season was shorter and we had to work around the clock. The yield is expected to be the same, but stretched out over time because the trees are the same,” Chang said.

(Source: The Star)

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• Bao Sheng Durian Farm
• Chang Zhi Vooi
• Durian
• Durian Prices
• Durians
• Musang King Durians
• Tan Chee Keat