KUCHING: The first shipment of 16 tonnes of durian paste from the State to China was officially launched yesterday.
The launching at Top Fruits (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, Winning Height in Jalan Batu Kitang here was officiated by Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development (MANRED).
“This is a very historic event. This is the first time that we are sending our durian products to China and we are indeed very happy with this first shipment,” Uggah told the media.
Uggah added that the shipment would first be sent to Johor and then to Guangdong, China.
The shipment was the result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed in November last year between the Department of Agriculture Sarawak (DOA) and Top Fruits Sarawak to develop the State’s durian industry.
“The Government decided to have the MoU and a working relationship with Top Fruits on the development of durians in Sarawak because they have their own processing and packing centres in Johor and Kuala Lumpur and most importantly, they have penetrated the market in seven countries including China.
“That is why we appoint them as our anchor company on durian because this is the model that we want to pursue as they have the technology for planting, processing and the market for the product,” explained Uggah.
Malaysia’s total export value for frozen durian and frozen durian paste in 2017 was RM130 million mainly to China, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, America and Australia.
From December 2017 to January this year, Top Fruits (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd purchased 80 tonnes of fresh local durian which was processed and converted into16 tonnes of raw durian paste. The average purchase price was RM3 per kilogramme for fresh local durian.
Top Fruits Sarawak collects fresh durian from Kuching, Serian and Sibu. The company added that the coverage would be gradually expanded to other divisions.
For 2018, the company targets 60 tonnes of raw durian paste production which would require at least 300 tonnes of fresh local durian.
The Deputy Chief Minister revealed that DOA has been looking into rehabilitation programmes in the State to rehabilitate the existing local durian trees to increase its productivity for the coming season.
He added that the DOA had discovered that there were 18,000 durian trees within Serian and more in other areas.
“DOA is also in the process of identifying suitable durian farms in agriculture stations at Semenggoh (Kuching) where there are 300 trees, Tarat with about 200 trees, Layar (Betong) with almost 300 trees and Kabuloh (Miri) where 600 trees become demonstration plots for Top Fruits Sarawak to transfer and showcase their technologies in durian farming to farmers.
“So our strategy is to adopt Top Fruits’ Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of maintaining the durian to make sure they fruit at least once a year and with their technology and SOP, we hope to double the production,” he said.
Uggah disclosed that a mechanism is being formulated to identify and determine the authenticity of durians.
He added that a strategy is also being put together to provide sufficient and cheaper seedlings as the seedlings for Musang King are being sold at RM150, RM200 and RM300.
“DOA is in the process of renovating the IQF Tarat into a Collecting, Processing and Packing Centre and once completed, Top Fruits Sarawak will be moving there.
“Through this strategic partnership with Top Fruits Sarawak, a complete supply chain, from the farm to the market is established,” said Uggah.
Also present at the launching were Assistant Minister for Native Land Development, Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn, Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, Datu Ik Pahon Joyik.
The freeze and vacuum packaging technology used by Top Fruits would enable the durian to last for 18 months and maintain the freshness.
The durian paste can be used for mooncakes, ice cream, pizza and hosts of various durian products.
