{"id":7032,"date":"2024-05-04T07:24:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T07:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7032"},"modified":"2024-05-04T07:24:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T07:24:50","slug":"heatwave-hammers-thailands-stinky-but-lucrative-durian-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7032","title":{"rendered":"Heatwave hammers Thailand’s stinky but lucrative durian farms"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent durian has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years – Copyright AFP Lillian SUWANRUMPHA<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

Watsamon Tri-Yasakda and Sarah Lai<\/em><\/p>\n

Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian labourer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague\u2019s waiting arms some 15 metres (50 feet) below.<\/p>\n

Among Thailand\u2019s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent \u201cking of fruits\u201d is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

But a vicious heatwave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiralling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is a crisis,\u201d durian farmer Busaba Nakpipat told AFP bluntly.<\/p>\n

The weather-beaten 54-year-old took over her parents\u2019 farm in eastern Chanthaburi province \u2014 Thailand\u2019s durian heartland \u2014 three decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the hot weather continues to rise in the future, it\u2019ll be over,\u201d she said. \u201cFarmers wouldn\u2019t be able to produce durian anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durian season usually lasts from March until June, but the soaring temperatures \u2014 which in her province have hovered around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for weeks \u2014 and subsequent drought have shortened the harvest.<\/p>\n

Busaba said the heat causes the durian, which is graduated by weight and size, to ripen faster so it does not grow to its fullest \u2014 and most valuable \u2014 size.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of the durian won\u2019t meet the standard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And not only is she getting less money for the crop, Busaba\u2019s operational costs have risen.<\/p>\n

Since March a drought has sucked water from the wells, so to keep her precious durian trees alive Busaba is forced to bring in thousands of litres by truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to buy 10 water trucks for 120,000 litres of water for one-time watering the whole 10-rai (1.6 hectares) of our farm,\u201d she said, repeating the process every other day, at a cost of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have prayed for rain,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cBut there was no rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 This year, less \u2013<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s durian exports are worth billions and are the kingdom\u2019s third most valuable agricultural product \u2014 behind rice and rubber.<\/p>\n

But in the nearby durian market, anxiety is running high among stall-holders, many of them with family businesses going back generations.<\/p>\n

Siriwan Roopkaew, manning her mother\u2019s stall, said the lack of water has impacted the size of the fruit, but for now prices remain high thanks to demand from China.<\/p>\n

Around 95 percent of Thaliand\u2019s durian exports are to China, which shipped nearly $4.6 billion worth of the love-it-or-hate-it fruit from the kingdom in 2023, according to data from Beijing\u2019s commerce ministry.<\/p>\n

But the weather is threatening Thailand\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n

In May Chinese state media reported an almost 50 percent rise in durian imported from Vietnam, citing heat and drought in Thailand.<\/p>\n

\u201cHot weather means there will be less durian. Even this year, there is less durian,\u201d Siriwan, 26, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, my stall would be full of durian by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

While farmers worried about water, she said, sellers like her family were more concerned about the knock-on economics.<\/p>\n

\u201cLess durian means our earnings are less,\u201d she said, \u201cso it\u2019d be hard for us to live the whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Busaba sighed as she considered the months ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of durian, it\u2019s over if there\u2019s no water,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Heatwave hammers Thailand’s stinky but lucrative durian farms
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#Heatwave #hammers #Thailands #stinky #lucrative #durian #farms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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