DESPITE minimal technical issues in exporting tons of durian to China, the Department of Agriculture-Davao Region (DA-Davao) revealed that these issues have been resolved by the Davao City Government.
“Just for an update, maganda ang bagsak ng durian (doon the market for our durian there is good), although they are facing few technical problems which are now being addressed by the city council on how to improve the handling of durians,” DA-Davao Regional Executive Director Abel James Monteagudo said in an interview at the AgriBiz Forum on Tuesday morning, December 19, 2023.
The official also revealed that their agency, alongside the Durian Industry Association of Davao City, hopes to expand the durian and other fruit products in the next few years as their demand in the eastern country is high.
“I hope the market will still be open for us in the next few years to come. Ang lakas ng ating durian sa China. Bago lang sila nakakain ng durian, siguro mga in the last 10 years (I hope the market will still be open for us in the next few years. Durian is so popular in China. They started eating durian, maybe in the last 10 years),” Monteagudo added.
To recall, DA-Davao shipped 18 metric tons of durian to China for the first time last April 6.
This is in line with the bilateral agreement on the protocol of Philippine fresh durian to the Republic of China as signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during his state visit to China last January 3, 2023.
Based on the data from the National Plant Quarantine Services Division of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 2,690 tons of fresh durian have been exported to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the US.
From January to September 2023 alone, the city exported 5,442.78 tons of fresh and frozen durian to different countries, much higher compared to the 2,300 tons in 2022.
Currently, the area planted for durian in the country is 16, 573 hectares with a total of 1,387,628 bearing trees with Davao Region as the top durian-producing area in Mindanao. DEF