Hainan durian is ripe, and domestic durian can be expected in the future.

On July 22nd, in the durian planting base in Sanya Ecological Yucai District, Hainan, a batch of durians were ripe, and when they were opened, a burst of fragrance came out. According to Du Baizhong, the person in charge of the base, at present, the price of this batch of mature durian is one catty in 60 yuan, but the quantity is small, so it is only for some consumers to try it.

In this regard, netizens have speculated: What is the taste of durian in Hainan? Can everyone eat cheap and delicious durian in the future? Will the parity era of durian in Hainan come?

Is there a surprise for durian in Hainan?

"At present, the area of planting durian in Sanya Ecological Yucai District is 12,000 mu, and it is estimated that more than 1,300 mu will be listed before the end of July this year." Du Baizhong, general manager of Hainan Youqi Agricultural Co., Ltd. introduced that consumers are welcome to come to the base to taste Hainan durian.

Photo by Wang Chenglong, durian planting base in Yucai Ecological Zone, Sanya City

Recently, some consumers have "tasted" Hainan durian through online shopping booking. In a shop in JD.COM, durian with the label "fresh fruit of durian produced in Sanya, Hainan" began to be pre-sold in June. The price of 3.5-4.5 kg was 188 yuan, and the price of 7.7-8.5 kg was 358 yuan. The average price was more than 40 yuan per kg, which was not cheap. A netizen who bought durian from Hainan commented: "There are surprises when the fruit is opened, and the fruit yield is 2.5 kg-3.5 kg, with thin skin and good taste."

"At present, most of the durians circulating in the market are 70% semi-cooked durians imported from abroad. The durian in Hainan is’ cooked on the tree’ and tastes very good!" Liu Xinyuan, chairman of Hainan Rouming Agricultural Co., Ltd., who started planting durian in Ledong five years ago, is also very confident in the durian industry in Hainan.

Du Baizhong also said that the main advantage of Hainan durian is "ripe on the tree" and its quality is guaranteed. But at present, the amount of listing is still relatively small. He introduced that the company currently plans to set up sales channels in durian entity tasting shops in Beishangguang and other places, and the online e-commerce platform only attracts consumers to adopt early adopters.

How big is the durian market?

The news of the listing of durian in Hainan has attracted a lot of attention of durian powder in recent days.

Durian, a tall tropical evergreen tree of Kapok family, is native to Malay archipelago and has the reputation of "king of all fruits".

How much does China love durian? 821,500 tons, US$ 4.205 billion. This is the data that China imported fresh durian from Southeast Asia in 2021.

In 2022, durian ranked first in the amount of fruit imported from China, reaching US$ 4.03 billion, and the import volume reached 825,000 tons, nearly tripled compared with 2014; According to customs data, between 2015 and 2022, the compound growth rate of fresh durian imports in China reached 17%.

The golden pillow durian Wang Chenglong, who is about to mature in the durian planting base in Yucai Ecological Zone, Sanya City.

Although China is a big consumer of durian, durian could not be made in China before. Based on the information publicly reported by various countries, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are the countries with large scale and high output of commercial durian in the world.

Feng Xuejie, director of the Tropical Fruit Research Institute of Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that durian has a longer growth cycle than other fruits, and it takes six or seven years from planting to fruiting. In terms of characteristics, durian is a very "picky" and "enjoyable" fruit. It must "live" in the mountains, like a warm winter and cool summer climate, grow in the lee, and the humidity should be controlled at 75% to 85%. At the same time, the planting technology requires high requirements, and various typhoon weather, pests and diseases will also affect the growth progress of durian; Because the "height" is relatively high, durian trees in their prime can grow to more than 20 meters, and the picking cost is also quite high.

Why can you grow durian in Hainan?

Hainan and durian have a deep fate. Hainan is the only tropical island province in China. Its climatic conditions are similar to those of Thailand and Malaysia, which are the main durian producing countries, and it has the inherent advantages of planting durian.

According to related books such as Records of Agriculture in Hainan Province and Records of Farming in Hainan Province, from 1956 to 1961, Hainan Farming introduced 20 species of tropical fruit trees such as durian and mangosteen from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and other countries in 82 batches, which were planted by four breeding stations including Baoting Tropical Crops Research Institute at that time.

Photo by Maoshanwang durian Wang Chenglong, who is about to mature in the durian planting base of Yucai Ecological Zone in Sanya City.

However, due to various reasons, the durian tree has not blossomed and produced no fruit for a long time, which has created a general impression that "Hainan is not suitable for planting durian". Some durian growers also admit that in the process of planting durian, "durian is planted dead and died", which is very tortuous. Up to now, the above-mentioned Youqi Company has invested 320 million yuan to grow durian, which is a heavy investment project.

In 2015, 44 durian trees were introduced to Hainan Huasheng Ecological Agriculture Base in Sandao Town, Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Hainan Province, and they actually blossomed and bore fruit in 2019. The news has aroused widespread concern, and it has also doubled the confidence of planting enterprises in the wait-and-see.

In recent years, with the joint efforts of scientific research teams and enterprises in Hainan, durian cultivation has made great progress.

Growers imitate the "micro-ecological environment" for durian growth abroad to improve the planting environment. The scientific and technological innovation team of tropical excellent and rare fruit trees of Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences conducted appraisal and regional adaptability tests on durian variety resources, and developed corresponding fertilizer and water management technologies, cultivation models and pest control technologies.

These scientific and technological supports have enabled durian to grow up in Hainan, and also reduced the mortality rate of durian trees in the base to 2‰.

Technicians take care of the maturing durian Wang Chenglong.

At the same time, the company also invited experts from Southeast Asia to teach durian, and made continuous efforts to transform the irrigation system. At present, the durian planting base in Sanya Ecological Yucai District adopts the digital agricultural platform, which can monitor the growth of trees through sensors, start the micro-spray system when water is scarce, and make fine water replenishment in time to help durian grow.

According to the statistics of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department of Hainan Province, at present, the area of planting durian in Hainan Province has reached 30,000 mu.

How far is "durian freedom"?

Can planting durian in Hainan help netizens realize "durian freedom"?

Generally speaking, the "durian freedom" expected by netizens may be understood from these angles to a greater extent: First, with the increase of supply places, consumers have more channels to choose high-quality durian; Second, you don’t have to go to Southeast Asia, but you can eat durian cooked on the tree in Hainan.

From the global durian supply side, since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) came into effect on January 1, 2022, consumers have more and more channels to choose durian. Thailand is a major supplier of fresh durian in China. In July last year, the General Administration of Customs of China issued an announcement to allow the import of Vietnamese fresh durian that meets the relevant requirements; In April this year, Philippine durian entered China for the first time through Nanning Airport.

From the supply and demand side of durian in Hainan, according to the relevant data provided by Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the area of durian that can blossom and bear fruit in Hainan this year is about 2,000 mu, and the estimated output is 50 tons, which is far from the customs statistics that the import of durian in China has reached more than 800,000 tons. Even after several years, durian has grown to 100,000 mu or even 300,000 mu, which still cannot meet the domestic market demand.

Therefore, it is not easy to realize "durian freedom" in price in the short term. A consensus in the industry is that in order to realize the industrial cultivation of durian from the source, it is necessary to cultivate new varieties suitable for local cultivation.

At present, scientific research institutes and enterprises in Hainan have established a gene bank of durian seedling living germplasm resources, combining local varieties and foreign varieties for grafting and domestication, and durian varieties with independent intellectual property rights in Hainan are expected to appear in recent years.

In the future, in order to cultivate durian industry in Hainan, it is necessary to do a good job in variety cultivation, variety screening and key technology research and development under the organization and guidance of the government, give full play to China’s advantages in technical equipment and cultivation technology, explore durian varieties with Hainan characteristics, further enrich the "fruit plate" of Chinese people, and let more consumers experience the "happiness of durian". (Fu Renyi)