High price sweetens prospects for fruits

Chonlathee Numnoo, director of Region 6 Agricultural Research and Development Office at the Department of Agriculture, said that durian dealers are starting to buy durians at high prices of Bt130-140 per kg due to available produces in the market are still low. “Later this year the price should fall and then become stable when more produce is harvested,” he added.
Meanwhile, Anchana Tracho, deputy secretary-general of Office of Agricultural Economics, said that that as of January 24 economic fruits grown in Eastern region (Chanthaburi, Rayong and Trat provinces) had yielded up to 1,053,016 tonnes of produce. “These fruits include durians, mangosteens, rambutans and longkongs,” she said. “Their total produce increased 18.78 per cent on average compared to the same period last year, thanks to favorable weather conditions and moderate amount of rains in the region.”
When divided by types, durians see the most increase at 21 per cent, followed by longkong at 19 per cent, rambutan at 17 per cent and mangosteen at 14 per cent. “Currently around 92 per cent of durian trees are bearing fruit, especially the Kradum and Monthong breeding which have high demand in the market,” she added. “Durian fruit will be ready for harvest starting from early February to late July, while the peak period will be around April and May.”
“As for rambutans, they have started giving fruit since January and will last until May, while mangosteens will start giving fruit in late March and will last until June,” she added. “Longkongs can give fruit all year long, but they depend on lower rains to boost the survival rate of their flowers.”