GEORGE TOWN – The durian season has begun and fans of the King of Fruits can expect a bountiful harvest in 2023 with prices cheaper than before, according to a Malaysian seller.

Despite losing over RM1 million (S$299,000) after his 90ha farm in Balik Pulau was hit by a storm recently, durian seller Tan Chee Keat remains positive it would be a good year for sellers like him.

“Actually, I did not expect the storm to happen during an extremely hot spell.

“This is rare. But, we managed to carry out pest management successfully, which resulted in better quantity and quality of durians this year. The durian season is going to be long. Some orchards may have the fruits until late October,” he said.

Mr Tan said in the past few years due to smaller harvests, the price went up considerably.

“Since it will be a good harvest this year, we can reduce the prices.”

Durians like the popular Musang King, he added, could fetch between RM20 and RM30 per kg, compared to RM40 per kg previously.

“We estimate prices will drop by 5 per cent to 10 per cent for most fruits.

“The season begins now with the durians ripening and ready to be distributed to the traders by early next week.

“It will peak in June and July.”

Mr Tan said his farm was the only one hit by the storm which destroyed about 2,000 durian trees in Balik Pulau.

At the popular Bao Sheng durian farm, owner Chang Zhi Vooi said that 2023 would be good for them as they expected the supply to be equally spread out over the next few months.

“This means that we will not be too busy compared to when the season was shorter and we had to work around the clock.

“The yield is expected to be the same but stretched out over time because the trees are the same,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK