BALIK PULAU - The prolonged hot weather in the country has not only caused low demand for durians but also resulted in lower production of the fruits, according to the owner of 8321 Durian Plantation Yeap Gaun Fong.
Yeap, 45, said that the harvest for durian this season is 30 per cent lower compared with last year.
"When the trees were flowering, there were clusters of flower buds, but the hot weather caused these flower buds to drop.
"The hot weather is the main reason why people eat less durians. Many visitors but they only bought one or two fruits...they said that the weather was too hot to consume many durians,” he told Bernama recently.
He said that the prices for the king of fruits have also dropped for the past two weeks due to low demand.
Yeap, who owns six durian plantations across Penang, added that there has been about a 50 per cent of price drop this season compared with last year.
"Two weeks ago, I sold Musang King durians grade A for RM75 per kilogramme (kg) and now only RM50 per kg... Udang Merah durians were initially sold for RM50 per kg, and now only RM35 per kg... while durian kampung is now sold at RM10 per kg compared with RM20 before,” he said.
With the durian season having just begun three weeks ago, he said that it is hard to predict whether this season leads to profit or loss.
"We will have to wait until the middle or end of the season to know whether we are making a profit or loss this time around. There could be an increase in demand during the school holidays next week,” he added.
The 8321 Durian Plantation and its roadside stall are situated at Jalan Teluk Bahang and open from 10am to 8pm daily. - BERNAMA