Agricom.id, BOGOR - Indonesia which lays on the equator got the abundant blessing, such as, kinds of tropical fruit called durian. In the Southeast Asia, the fruit which is from Kalimantan has the high economic value. Of other tropical fruits, durian has the promising selling price.

Beside as the primadona in commerce, durian has sulfuric smell namely when it is mature within specific smell.

Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) when visiting one durian plantation in City of Bogor urged to increase the durian production. “Durian is the mainstay fruit from Indonesia because it has markets in local and international scale. It could be sold fast because many are fond of it,” SYL said.

Data from central bureau of statistic (CBS) revealed that the durian production in 2019 reached 1,16 million tons or increased 1,6 percent compared to last year.

Secretary of Yayasan Durian Indonesia (YDI), Iwan Subakti said tht the increasing production is not the same with the quality and the selling price gets cheaper namely for the local durian which is minimally nursed.

“The un-well harvest treatment makes the decreasing numbers and quality. This tends to the local durian which was bought in big numbers. The same harvest both for the immature and mature fruit within pull system not by picking,” he said, Wednesday (4/11/2020) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

The scars in the (skin of) tree because of the pull, Iwan thought, generally would not make flowers again. It means, slowly but sure, the production would be decreasing.

Head of Public Relation and Information, Ministry of Agriculture, Kuntoro Boga Andri told that in macro based on CBS data, in the last four years, the fruit production nationally increased.

“In 2019, for instance, the local fruit production in Indonesia reached 22,5 million tons or increased 4,8 percent compared to 2018. The annual fruits became the third biggest commodities after coffee and medical plants. The exports reached about US$ 140.228,90.

In the last five years, he continued, many planted durian in Indonesia starting from the small scale to hundred hectares scale. In Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi there are many durian plantations in big scale.

“As time goes, Indonesia could be the main producer. But if we discuss about the cultivation, there are two things to say, the first, forests of local durian are found in many regions and the second is it needs to manage the cultivation,” he said.

For the local durian which is independently cultivated, we (Indonesia) have to admitted, Indonesia still competes with Malaysia and Thailand. He thought that the two countries develop durian for a very long time by choosing the superior clone, they arrange the distance of each tree, fertilize it in vegetative and generative, and do irrigation to durian.

Iwan Subakti and YDI now actively deal with durian plantations in Central Java, West Java, and Banten as the good pilot project so that other farmers could imitate.

For information, Indonesia, Iwan thought, has exported durian in fresh, peel, and frozen with liquid nitrogen. One goal country is Malaysia. (A2)