Durian lovers in Penang have to wait a little longer
BALIK PULAU: The Musang King is already in season in Raub, but durian lovers here will have to wait a little longer for the fruits to arrive as the harvesting season is expected to be delayed by one to two months.
The occasional rainfall now did not help with the flowering of the durian trees, Green Acres Orchard and Ecolodge owner Eric Chong said, adding that there was also no prolonged dry and hot period for about two weeks.
“My orchard has 450 durian trees of different varieties, but only 10 trees are flowering.
“The Xiao Hong, D604, Kapri and Ang Bak Kia durian trees have started flowering, but it is uncertain if the flowers will eventually turn into fruits,” he said when met at his orchard.
Chong said that the trees would usually start to flower by the end of January or early February.
He noted that there was durian supply by April last year because “durian trees in some places started flowering in December 2015.”
Chong, however, said that it was still too early to say if there would be a shortage of the supply of durians this year.
Tan Eow Chong, another orchard owner from the Durian Cap Kaki stall in Relau, agreed that there would be a delay in the durian season this year.
“Looking at the flowering now, the season is expected to start at the end of June or early July and may extend until the middle of August. There are a number of durian trees that have not flowered,” he said.
Tan, who won the state Raja Durian title in 2001, has several orchards in Balik Pulau, Teluk Bahang, Sungai Pinang and Gertak Sanggul.
“There will not be many durians next month and the price might be higher,” he said.
Last year, the durian season started from May to June while the second one was from July until the end of August.