Durian production in Kedah is expected to drop between 20 to 30 percent due to the extreme hot weather that is currently hitting the country.
The director of the Kedah State Department of Agriculture, Ramli Abdul Rahman, said the hot weather and drought will affect durian production which is expected at the end of next month.
“This durian plant is a bit unique, it doesn’t need a lot of water but if there is no water at all, the shoots will die even if the tree has been alive for decades. If you follow, the durian will start to fall this June and July but gradually.
“Most durian farmers hope there will be no irrigation problems.. otherwise it will affect their crops. As a result of the study, we expect durian production to decrease between 20 to 30 percent due to this hot weather,” he said when met by reporters at the State Department of Agriculture’s Open House. Kedah, here, today.
Ramli said that in order to overcome the problem of irrigation for the durian plant, his party has introduced several types of technology to entrepreneurs, including the use of underground water.
“There are two ways, surface water or underground water, but when the weather is hot like now, the surface water is dry. If you want to flood the land, the cost is quite high so it depends on the entrepreneur’s own budget.
“We can only introduce the technology but the durian operators have to implement it themselves. There are also those who have to use water from Darul Aman Water Company (SADA) because there is no other source of water, so they have to pay a relatively high water bill,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ramli said that apart from durian which is widely planted in Padang Terap, Sik, Baling and Bandar Baharu, several other types of crops are also expected to be affected if the extreme heat continues, including rice and Harum Manis mangoes.
In another development, he said regarding the issue of watermelon dumping in Kedah, his party has already discussed with the state’s Federal Agricultural Marketing Board (FAMA) to resolve the problem of selling the fruit.
“I understand that FAMA has already taken the fruits from the dealer. Previously, watermelons were sold at a price of RM3.50 per kilo but now they are sold at a price between RM1 to RM1.50 per kilo. If you follow, it will still give a return on capital to the trader but the profit obtained will decrease slightly,” he said.
Recently, Bernama reported that several watermelon traders in Kedah claimed to have suffered losses due to the dumping of the fruit in addition to the hot weather which caused the stored watermelon to spoil quickly.
