Chinese companies are looking to rent 3,200 to 4,800 hectares of state-owned land in Vientiane, Laos, in order to grow durians and export them to China, reported Lao media. This scale is unprecedented, and the news soon went viral on social media in Laos and surrounding countries. The Thai Agricultural Cooperative responded, "It is expected that there will be large durian exports from Laos and Vietnam in 3-5 years”, and warned the local agricultural community that "it may affect Thailand's agricultural exports in the future, such as corn, bananas, durians, and vegetables for agricultural purposes”.
According to AgriLaos (www.agrilaos.com), Laos is sparsely populated and has a variety of climates including temperate, subtropical, and tropical climates. However, agriculture in Laos has been weak and heavily relies on weather conditions. Durian has only been commercially grown in Laos on a very small scale in the past ten years, mainly on the cool and fertile southern plateau.
There are two varieties of durian grown in the country, the native variety, and Monthong. They are sold in stalls along the main roads in May every year along with seasonal fruits such as pineapple and jackfruit, attracting nearby passengers. The price of local durians is about 30,000 kip each, but due to management and varietal issues, and the fact that the trees haven’t been bearing fruit long, there is a 50% chance that the flesh of the fruit is very small. A popular way of consuming the fruit among the locals is to eat it with sticky rice.
However, the ultra-low prices have attracted the attention of foreign travel companies, who packaged visits to durian orchards as well as strawberry and pineapple orchards with tours to coffee plantations in southern Laos, which is especially popular with tourists from neighboring countries Vietnam and Thailand. Laos, especially the capital, is also home to big durian consumers. The fruit is usually imported from Thailand. In early 2021, the price is roughly 90,000 kip for Monthong and 150,000 kip for Kan Yao.
Data provided by professional organization TD to AgriLaos show that the local durian consumer market has been expanding in recent years. In 2019, Laos imported 20.13 million tons, an increase of 33% year-on-year; in 2019, it exported 0.376 million tons. In fact, a few Chinese companies have carried out planting trials of varieties such as Monthong, Musang King, and Black Thorn in a few provinces, but the trees have not yet born fruit. Musang King, which is very expensive in China, is very delicate and requires close attention in temperature, soil moisture, and field management, and there have been a few failed trials in Laos.
The reasons for the growth of Laos durian exports include low land rent and labor, as well as many free trade agreements, exempting tariffs from 16 countries including China, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, and India.
Durians from Laos have been approved for export to China in 2020. Connected to China by land, it will become more convenient to export to China by rail freight in the future with the launch of the China-Laos railway. In addition, Lao Chinese have begun to set up a tropical fruit processing and exhibition center in Guangdong Province, China.
According to data from the Thai Ministry of Agriculture, China imported 575,000 tons of durian from Thailand in 2020, with a value of 69 billion baht, or approximately RMB 14.7 billion, a 78% increase from 2019. China is Thailand's largest market of durians, and Thailand is the largest importer of Chinese fruits.
Source: Lao Agriculture Network
