A spokesperson for the Thai agricultural industry and cooperatives stated on April 24th that online sales of Thai durians in China have opened the floodgates. This has caused the price of durian to rapidly increase. The purchase price of durian in orchards in the east of Thailand has already reached 22 yuan [3.48 USD] per kg, which is higher than it has been in years. This greatly encouraged economic development in durian production areas in the east of Thailand. However, the government is also worried: high prices may tempt plantation owners to harvest durians too early, which brings down the quality.
Thai durian
The Thai Department of Agriculture has already authorized the Bureau of Agricultural Science and Technology and the Bureau of Agricultural Promotion to jointly raise the standards for durian export to China. They will examine the various segments of durian production and export, which includes GAP-standard examination of production place, harvest time, durian quarantine, and product labels. The durians that do not meet the requirements are prohibited from export to China.
Apart from this, the Bureau of Agricultural Development has stipulated that Chanthaburi Province and Rayong Province provide weekly reports on the fruit retail conditions in the east of Thailand. The sales volume of durians has already reached 112.8 thousand tons by April 23rd, which equals 27.93% of this year's durian production volume in Thailand. The remaining 72% (291 thousand tons) have not yet been harvested. The majority will enter the market in the last week of April. It is expected that the price will be slightly higher than last year.
Source: thaiheadlines.com
