ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 27 — The Johor government will be developing a durian collection centre in Tangkak following expectations of a glut of the king of fruits in three or four years’ time.

State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry and Rural Development Committee chairman Datuk Zahari Sarip said a survey of the Johor Agriculture Department found an oversupply is expected to occur following large scale planting of durian by farmers in the last few years.

He said the price of durian including Musang King will fall if there is a glut.

"Based on a survey of the Johor Agriculture Department, we find the large-scale planting will lead to an excessive supply in the next three to four years.

"Therefore, when the mega farms start fruiting, the state government could store the fruits at the collection centre,” he told reporters outside the Johor State Legislative Assembly in Kota Iskandar here today.

He said through the collection centre, the durians will be frozen to be marketed during off-season.

The Buloh Kasap assemblyman said the centre will be built with the cooperation of Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).

"If early action is not taken, I am worried that the price of durian will fall unless durian can be marketed directly to countries like China.

"However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, durians could not be exported to China. So, we don’t want durian dumping to happen and the proposal of this collection centre is quite important so that durian contents can be frozen and can be marketed throughout the year,” he said.

For the record, the state government aims to increase durian production by 141,862 tonnes in 2027 with Tangkak being the district that produces most of the fruit. — Bernama