Durian growers in Thailand are preparing for stringent import checks with their biggest buyer — China, as the nation continues to enforce its zero-Covid-19 policy at the border.
Last yr, Thailand exported greater than 875 thousand tonnes of its pungent yellow fruit to China by land, sea and air, producing an estimated three.4 billion USD, according to the Department of Agriculture.
This yr, Thai farmers hope to extend their exports as they count on bigger harvests, but China’s continued enforcement of a strict covid coverage threaten to derail the season’s excessive expectations.
Currently, land transport by truck is the most typical method of export. But if Covid-19 is detected at the border, durian items might be destroyed and the border closed for days and even weeks.
Fortune have already felt the sting, when final year an estimated tens of thousands of tonnes of durian were spoiled.
This yr the Thai government is seeking to be part of its neighbour Laos in exporting produce through the new China-Laos excessive speed railway, which connects the capital of Vientiane to the Chinese city of Kunming in the southwest province of Yunnan.
According to the Thai Durian Association, one train might transport between 35 to 50 containers of the spiky fruit.
Durian season beings in March every year, peaking in mid-May and June, before ultimately ending in December..