Hainan eager for first durian crop

South China's Hainan province is anticipating its first durian harvest this summer after years of cultivation.

A durian plantation in the Sanya Yuchai Ecological Zone has yielded its first fruit on a large scale, with the crop expected to be ready for market soon.

"Due to lower temperatures in Hainan this year, the maturity of the fruit originally expected to hit the markets in May or June has been delayed to the end of June or early July," said Du Baizhong, general manager of Hainan Youqi Agricultural Company, adding the company's planting base in the zone is expected to produce a maximum of 50,000 kilograms of durian this year.

According to the Sanya bureau of agriculture and rural affairs, the city began planting durian four years ago. The trees began bearing fruit on a large scale this year.

Sanya has planted more than 660 hectares of durian in various districts, and more of the fruit is expected to enter the market.

Du's company is the city's largest durian producer in terms of planting scale. He said that in 2019, when 44 durian trees that were introduced to the Baoting Li and Miao autonomous county as part of afforestation efforts successfully bore fruit, he was inspired to cultivate the tropical crop.

He sent workers to Southeast Asia to learn how to grow the spiky fruit, and established a scientific and research cooperative with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. The company also recruited workers with master's degrees in agriculture.

By working with scientific research institutes and being guided by Southeast Asian-Chinese agricultural specialists, the company began to plant durian in the ecological zone in March 2020. With advanced technology and equipment, the base can automate water distribution, fertilizer management, meteorological monitoring and pest control.

The company now has durian plantations in the ecological zone, as well as in Ledong county and Baoting.

"In Hainan, the cultivation of the delicate durian fruit requires more manual interventions and greater attention to their growth rate, compared with that in Southeast Asia," Du said.

"We upgraded our irrigation three times based on the terrain in our base. Now, with intelligent sensors, we can easily conduct analysis on the water supply of the durian crops."

Hainan sought to grow durian back in the 1950s. At first, the province planted seeds directly, but with this method the trees took more than 10 years to bear fruit. Now, by taking a branch from a tree that is already bearing fruit and grafting it onto one that is growing, farmers can yield fruit within three years.

"With the support of the provincial government and the ecological zone, we have introduced durian crop varieties from Southeast Asia countries such as Laos for study and research," Du said.

Last year, a few trees in the base had already borne ripe fruit, he said.

"Anyone standing 6 or 7 meters away could smell their aroma."

Durian, which is popular among young consumers in first-tier cities, is one of the top imported fruits in China. The successful cultivation of the tropical fruit in Hainan means that durian lovers in China can enjoy the fresh, local variety, which tends to be sweeter than its foreign counterparts, according to the bureau.

Even so, Phaichit Viboontanasarn, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Bangkok Post that the relatively low output of Hainan durian would not greatly affect imported fruit from Thailand.

In fact, trade between China and Thailand has grown partly thanks to the booming livestreaming industry in China.

Xin Youzhi, founder of China's Xinxuan Selection Group and a network anchor, was invited by the Thai government to host a special livestream on Sunday in Bangkok to promote items such as durian produced in Thailand to Chinese consumers.

During the eight-hour show, about 1.62 million durians were sold, raking in revenue of around 300 million yuan ($43.3 million). The total revenue of all items reached 830 million yuan with 6.78 million orders.

"In addition to helping vendors of Thai brands sell their products to Chinese customers, we will deepen cooperation with the country in the agricultural sector," Xin said. "Meanwhile, we are bringing Chinese digital economy experiences and resources to help Thailand to cultivate such talent."