The Village People may have said ‘it’s raining men’ but over in the Malaysian town of Segamat, it is raining durian. Not literally though, but it has been an extraordinary season for the king of fruit in this district.
Fruiting is heavy according to an orchard owner in Batu 8 Jementah, Mr Arman Ishak who said he had to tie the branches of the trees and put up nettings so the durian fruits don’t fall on the ground.
The 60-year-old said along with other durian fruit harvesters, they have had to take these added measures as fruits that fall on the ground would crack and this would spoil the flesh and affect its price.
“My orchard is only about 1.2 hectares but thankfully, the harvest this year is extraordinary until we had to tie the branches of the durian trees to the trunk and put up more nettings than we previously had to.
“There are more than 20 durian trees here between 10 and 20 years old and they are giving out more fruits than before,” he said, explaining that lesser fruits in the years before could have been caused by factors such as strong winds, animals as well as dry and hot weather made for the amazing Durian Harvests.
“Among the types of durians that is fruiting heavily this season are durian kampung, D24, D13, Musang King, Tembaga, Duri Hitam and Udang Merah,” he added, informing that these were normally sold between RM7 (S$2.35) to more than RM100 per kilogramme.
Mr Arman said the nettings and wires have to be put up in order to strengthen the branches of the durian harvests trees in an effort to ensure it could support the weight of all the fruits before they become ripe in another two months.
The cost of putting up the wires and nettings could reach RM150 per tree, according to Arman.
Meanwhile, a Segamat durian trader, Yow Qian Huat, 72, said a good durian harvest season would not guarantee lower prices as the Segamat durian has its own ‘fans’ from Singapore, Thailand, Melaka, Selangor and Pahang.
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