In the foothills deep in Malaysia's Pahang state, a bitter tussle is pitting a large group of unlicensed farmers and a new company owned by the state's royalty over control of the famous Musang King durians.

The 1,000 or so farmers are mostly ethnic Chinese who have been planting durian trees in Raub, a two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, for the past four to five decades by clearing government-owned forest land.