My mom just brought home some durians. Yum, yum!

Bad weather causing durian trees to bear fewer fruits

By ANTHONY CHEW

PENANG (Tuesday May 8, 2007): Bad weather has caused a lower durian harvest in Balik Pulau, the main producer for the state, with production down by about 50% compared with a normal season.

Orchard owners in Sungai Pinang said the durian trees started to bloom in March but continuous heavy rain last month caused the flowers to drop off, resulting in a lower harvest.

King of fruits: (From left) Orchard owners Phang, Eric Kee and Lee admiring one of the many durians in Sungai Pinang.

One owner, Lee Toh Sem, 66, said the trees were bearing fewer durians because of the bad weather.

“Initially, we were delighted when the buds started to bloom but the flowers started to fall when rain came,” he said.

The “king of fruits” there are expected to hit the streets from May 15 for about one to two months.

Some of the popular varieties are 604, 01, 11, 14, hor lor, ang heah, kum poh, capri, lipan and siew fong.

Lee said good quality durians in Sungai Pinang would fetch better prices than those last year, adding that most of the durian trees in his 5.6ha orchard looked healthy.

“We make sure there is quality control. Quality will be affected if a branch has too many fruits,” he said, adding that some unripe fruits were disposed of before harvesting.

Another orchard owner, Phang Yew Sak, 53, said it was common knowledge that good quality durians came from Sungai Pinang because of ideal soil and weather conditions.

He said some retailers selling durians from other states were fond of saying that their fruits came from Balik Pulau, which was not the case.

“When a buyer complained that the fruit was expensive or of poor quality, the retailers would say the fruit came from Balik Pulau. Similarly, when a buyer asked for Balik Pulau durians, they would say theirs were from Balik Pulau.”

SOURCE: The Star Malaysia