Durians in Distress?

How climate change and new breeds are affecting the harvest of Singapore's favourite fruit

- Cherie Lok

JOHOR/SINGAPORE - Like most monarchs, the king of fruit resides in a lush, sprawling estate, tended to by a fleet of courtiers eagerly anticipating its every need.

At the beginning of June, all is quiet in this particular royal nursery in the Malaysian town of Bekok. Dogs scamper between the trees and sunlight filters through in irregular beams, illuminating patches of grass where fallen durians, small and shrivelled, lie in the ignominy of unrealised potential.

Had they hung on for a few more weeks, their fall might have been cushioned by nets, strung up between the trees to catch the precious cargo. But the harvest is not yet ripe for the picking.

This durian season is shaping up to be slower than usual, the winds of change already whistling through the trees. Erratic weather has dampened the harvest, and new varieties — available only in limited quantities for now — jostle for space in the soil.

The Sunday Times heads across the border to find out how one farmer is preparing for the upcoming harvest.

RAINING ON THEIR PARADE

The real king of the hill, 41-year-old Chin Kuan Voon, inspects his 20.2ha estate with cautious optimism. He is the third-generation owner of VS Farms, which was founded by his grandfather in the 1950s.

Like his predecessors, Mr Chin spends most of the year waiting for July to roll around. This is when durian farmers like him enjoy a big windfall, raking in enough to live off for the rest of the year.

In the meantime, he does what he can to prepare. In the trees, workers perch with practised precision as they strap branches to trunks to prevent durians from falling prematurely. Organic fertiliser is packed into the ground. Fruit that do not pass muster are lobbed off, so precious nutrients are redirected to the most promising buds.

As Mr Chin shows us around the farm, we come across a decapitated 30-year-old tree, flanked by the remnants of its broken branches.