Exporting Durians to China Appeals to Philippine Farmers

According to the Philippine News Agency, at least 62 certified orchards in the country’s Davao Region are due to ship premium durians of the Puyat variety to China this year.

In a press conference, Abel James Monteagudo, director of the Philippine Department of Agriculture in the Davao Region, noted that the number of local suppliers qualified to export durians to China is very likely to double in the coming days as numerous orchards have expressed their interest in acquiring the necessary certification.

Philippine durians gained official market access to China in early January of this year following a state visit by the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to China. The phytosanitary protocol for the fruit requires that orchards wishing to export durians to China adhere to good agricultural practices and that processing and packaging operations be overseen by the Philippine Department of Agriculture or its authorized agents.

As an important commercial crop, durians are widely cultivated in the Philippines. Davao, a key seaport city on the island of Mindanao, is the country’s most important durian-producing region, accounting for over 70% of total output. In 2021, the Philippines had a durian planting area of 16,573 hectares with 1,387,628 bearing trees, of which 8,179 hectares and 884,567 trees were in Davao.

In 2021, the Philippines produced 73,867 metric tons of durians, representing a slight decrease of 6.7% from the previous year. At present, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Africa are the top five overseas markets for Philippine durians.

Image: Pixabay

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.