W47: Weekly Durian Update
Thailand
Develop a Traceability System Pilot Durian-Longan (Nov 23)
The Department of Agriculture has raised the standard of Thai fruits for export "Premium Thai Fruits". The policy of Ms. Mananya Thaiset, Deputy Minister of Agriculture is to create strengths to be competitive And maintain the important fruit export market in the Chinese market. Thailand's Horticultural Research Institute, Bureau of Agricultural Research and Development, Office of Plant and Agricultural Materials Control, and a group of entrepreneurs exporting Thai fruits to China (New Era Fruit Trade Association) organized a workshop "Development of a traceability system throughout the supply chain" in fruit, durian and longan exports to China. The Department of Agriculture is to provide a garden registration service (GAP) to farmers. To monitor the fruit production process in farmers' gardens. The service will help build consumer confidence in China. It will also help reduce the problem of contamination from COVID-19 in fruits exported to China.
Dropped Prices of Thailand Monthong Durian and Vietnam RI6 in China for W47 (Nov 23)
In September of 2022, Thailand Monthong Durian was sold for USD 153.38-167.33/16kg (RMB 1100-1200/16kg), but now the price dropped to USD 97.61-125.50/16kg (RMB 700-900/16kg), and the price of Vietnam Ri6 has fallen from USD 52.99-55.78/705kg (RMB 380-400/7.5kg) to USD 32.07-39.04/7.5kg (RMB 230-280/7.5kg) now, compared to the previous price, it drops about 20%. The price dropped in China due to the excessive volume of imported Ri6 that is difficult to store and whose quality is difficult to control. And the impact of the Thailand Monthong pricing has also been apparent with the massive number of Ri6 arriving.
Thai Durian Growers Feel Threatened as Vietnam Debuts on the Chinese Market (Nov 24)
Thai growers who had a virtual monopoly on exporting fresh durians to China are now concerned about Vietnam's entry into this market. They fear that proximity to the Asian giant will bring several benefits to Vietnamese exporters. Thai durian growers are concerned about increased competition from Vietnam in a market dominated by Thailand for decades. When the first batch of Vietnamese fresh durian was exported to China in September 2022, Thai durian grower Busaba Nakaba Nakpipat said: "Now Vietnam is our competitor, and that worries me." China has approved the export of fresh durian from nearly 3,000 hectares in Vietnam. Local growers see a significant opportunity to make larger profits from the fruit. During a trip to Vietnam, an Agence France-Presse correspondent visited an increasing number of durian orchards and found that the country has great potential to further expand the cultivation of the special fruit.
Vietnam
To concretize his desire to grow durian 4 months ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong (Tap Lap commune, Tan Thanh district, Long An province) planted durian seeds in the garden of Thai jackfruit. On November 21, 2022, Mr. Cuong had almost cleaned up the Thai jackfruit garden with 300 roots, 1.2ha wide, able to eat a few crops when the 4-month-old durian roots hardened against the rain and sun. Looking at the Thai jackfruit trees, which were fined across the body, and fell to the ground, the hope of changing the life of Mr. Cuong's family in previous years, I saw what to plant and what to raise children in Vietnam. It takes USD 41K-49K (VND 1-1.2B) to invest in 1ha of durian and 5-7 years to grow fruit. Nguyen Van Phuong grows 300 durian roots interspersed in the garden of Thai jackfruit. He plans to specialize in durian cultivation once the durian tree is big enough. On average, each durian tree from planting to harvesting costs about USD 205.21-246.25/tree (VND 5-6M/tree). Dong Thap Muoi is an alkaline, low soil, so it is necessary to design a high and wide tissue before sowing durian. "It is important to master durian growing techniques and to monitor the growth process," Mr. Tran Van Chinh shared.
Durian Has a Record High Price; Tien Giang People Massively Expand the Area in Vietnam (Nov 23)
The output of durian fruit in Tien Giang province has been favorable, and the price has reached a record level. Due to the high profit, farmers are massively planting this crop even outside the planning area and on rice land. Each hectare of the orchard for a stable harvest will achieve a revenue of nearly USD 41K/year (VND 1B/year). The durian orchards in Tien Giang province are more than 17K hectares, exceeding the set plan and achieving the plan for 2025 on developing this fruit tree. Durian orchards planted outside the planning area in Tien Giang province were damaged severely by flooding. Farmers should not rush to plant but stabilize the area to improve durian quality. Previously, local growers followed the "movement" to expand the area of dragon fruit and jackfruit with little concern for quality.
In Vietnam, Many Kinds of Fruits Tripled in Price (Nov 24)
The report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that the price of Ri6 durian grade 1 has a selling price of USD 3.53/kg (VND 86K/kg) at the garden, the highest in the past five years. Thanks to the high prices of many fruits, farmers in the Mekong Delta said they were profitable again after three years of losses due to the impact of Covid-19. Particularly, durian-growing households in the West earn a profit of USD 246.25-328.34/hectare (VND 600-800M/hectare) (because this time is harvesting in the off-season, the selling price in the garden has increased to USD 3.28/kg (VND 80K/kg). Vietnamese fruits being officially exported to China was one of the positive factors that helped increase the prices of durian and banana.
