Hainan Island's durian crop is disappointing

The above information was given by Mr. Phung Hoc Kiet, director of the Institute of Tropical Fruits under the Hainan Institute of Agricultural Sciences, in an interview with CCTV last weekend.

That is far short of the production estimate of 2,450 tons released by CCTV in March and only serves 0.005% of the total durian demand in China this year, which is about one million tons.

Mr. Phung said the domestic source of durian will serve the Hainan market and sell to tourists. Therefore, it is not easy for people in other areas of China to buy this fruit.

Last month, Mr. Phung also stated that the March estimate was too high because there were still no large areas dedicated to durian cultivation. According to the data he gave, the pilot durian growing area in Hainan is only about 70 hectares.

"Some of the pilot durian areas have flowers, others don't," he said. "Some durian trees have flowered and the results in Hainan are still not mature enough and can't produce much fruit."

This is the first year that Hainan has harvested durians on a large scale after more than four years of cultivation, as durian is one of China's most favored imported fruits.

The expert said that Hainan will need a few more years to be able to produce enough durian to bring domestic prices down. He also warned that the appearance of domestic durian does not mean that the price will be very cheap because the cost of farming in Hainan is higher than in Southeast Asian countries.

Source: Zingnew