Thailand is taking notice of attempts in China to produce durians as Thai officials warn growers to improve the quality of their fruit in preparation for future competition, according to local news sources.
China represents Thailand’s largest export market for fresh durian, however, efforts are being made in China to develop domestic production and for the first time there are signs of success.
Wanlada Rattanapanich, director of the Department of International Trade Promotion office in Nanning, China told The Nation, the department had been watching China attempt to grow durians for some time.
“A private company in Hainan province bought 20 'Sanno' durian seedlings from Malaysia and succeeded in growing them in Sanya city in southern Hainan,” Rattanapanich said.
Feng Xuejie, president of the Hainan Tropical Fruit Institute, told The Nation, Chinese growers had struggled to grow durian for decades because of lack of space and time, as it can take between four and eight years for a durian tree to bear fruit.
“We have been trying to grow durian trees for decades, but the results were mostly unsatisfactory, such as small fruit and insipid taste,” said Xuejie.
“Although the latest attempt to grow Sanno durians from Malaysia was quite a success, there is still the risk of failure if the farming areas cannot control the weather conditions like we did in the lab and test plots.”
Although Rattanapanich said China was not currently able to produce durian of sufficient quality or quantity for domestic consumption, with more work it has to potential to in the future.
“Currently more than 80 per cent of fresh durians in the Chinese market are imported from Thailand,” Rattanapanich explained.
“To preserve the market share, Thai farmers need to maintain and improve the quality of our product especially in terms of fruit size and unique taste.”
