Sanchai Puranachaikiri, president of the Thai Fresh Fruit Traders and Exporters Association, said the durian supply from Thailand’s eastern provinces is expected to rise by 20% this year, with the main harvest beginning next month.
Prices are likely to fall as a result, according to the association’s former president, Paiboon Wongchotesathit, who projected that the region’s supply will reach 800,000 tons.
“Consumers will benefit from cheaper durians that are of better quality,” Paiboon said, as quoted by the Bangkok Post.
Thailand’s peak durian season typically runs from April to July, starting in the eastern region before shifting to the south, according to Thai newspaper The Nation.
Overall, the Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry projects a 37% year-on-year surge in durian production to 1.76 million tons this year.
This would mark an improvement from last year, when Thailand’s main durian harvest was hammered by a heatwave that swept across Southeast Asia.
Last April, the country recorded a temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius, just shy of the all-time high of 44.6 seen in 2023.
High heat can cause durian skin to crack or fibers to dry out, Sam Sin, development director at S&F Produce Group, a Thai firm that exports durian to China, told the South China Morning Post.
At the time, farmers also reported that the heat was causing durians to ripen more quickly, preventing them from reaching their full size and lowering their market value.
This year, Paiboon noted that farmers plan to spread out the harvest across four to five batches to curb oversupply, which can cause a sales rush that leads to consumers purchasing unripe durians.
This season, consumers can expect to savor perfectly ripe durians, he added.
