Farmers urged to plant more durian as fruit exportation gains ground

Farmers urged to plant more durian as fruit exportation gains ground

Farmers in Davao City are urged to plant more durian as exportation of the exotic fruit is gaining ground.

Candelario “Larry” Miculob, former president of the Durian Industry Council of Davao City (DICDC) and durian farmer, said this is based on the current inquiries he received.

Miculob said majority of the interested buyers are Chinese traders. He also said Japan market is now also interested.

“Export is gaining traction based on current inquiries,” he said.

He added that local market in Manila is also interested and even increased their volume for both fresh and frozen durian.

He said there is a need to plant more durian as farmers are expecting lower durian production this incoming season brought about by too much rainfall. The decline in production is estimated by 30 percent from previous year.

“There is a continuing effort to encourage farmers to plant more durian as market is reacting fast than available productive durian trees,” he said.

Miculob added that supply must continue for the markets in the US and Australia.
“Kaya lang wala tayong supply at the moment,” he said.

In March this year, the initial shipment of two varieties of durian, the Puyat and the Duyaya, in whole pieces with shell and a tasting sampler pack arrived at the Port of Melbourne through a Melbourne-based importer, Aus Asia Produce Pty Ltd.

Aus Asia Produce is an Australian company that specializes in importing and distributing exotic tropical fruits, Asian vegetables, herbs and other products.

It can be recalled that in 2019, durian from Davao City has broken through the US market with an initial 300 kilos ordered by an Oregon-based blogger and importer, Lindsey Gasik, who has been travelling around Asia tasting different durian varieties.