Sarawak exceeds durian paste export target — Deputy Chief Minister

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Uggah (centre), together with (from right) Poo, Dr Abdul Rahman, Ik Pahon and Chai show the durian paste ready for shipment.

KUCHING: Sarawak exceeded its durian paste export target for 2018 when another 30 tonnes were ready for shipment yesterday.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the state had targeted to export 30 tonnes of durian paste between end of last year and early this year, but now the output had reached 42 tonnes.

He said the first container of 12 tonnes was sent to Kuala Lumpur on Jan 3, the second container of 15 tonnes was shipped yesterday (Jan 21) and another 15 tonnes today.

Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development (Manred), said his ministry had identified A.T.A Supplies as one of the two companies aside from Top Fruits to assist in developing Sarawak’s durian industry.

“The durians we are exporting are not Musang King. These durians are any durian produced in some parts of Sarawak. A.T.A Supplies, which purchases and processes it, is selling the paste to Kuala Lumpur, including to China.

“In China, there is a big demand for durian paste. They can use it for mooncake, for ice cream and other products. When I was in Seoul, I saw even face masks have a durian flavour,” he told reporters after declaring the shipment of durian paste by A.T.A Supplies here yesterday.

Uggah believed there is great demand for durian and the only thing is to link the market because a lot of the fruits are in the rural areas.

He said A.T.A is working with a local farmers association, which helps to collect and send the fruits to A.T.A Supplies, and even helps to pay for the transport charges of the fruits from Betong.

“But it is interesting to have a buyer and we hope the farmers associations later on will help to link the farmers with the market,” he said.

Uggah said like any other commodities, it’s hard to tell the price of durian.

He, however, believes that during peak season the price will come down but during shortage of supply, the price can go very very high.

He said when the price is low, the owners may even refuse to collect the fruits anymore as it would be a waste of time.

“But when we have this kind of networking to buy the durians, we hope the durian price can be maintained at certain level; at least it is remunerative for the farmers to collect and sell.

“The amount will add to their income from some other crops, especially during this period when the price of commodities is coming down,” he said.

Uggah believes having partnership with anchor companies will really help farmers have another source of revenue.

“That is our main purpose – to increase the income of the rural people, to close the gap between the rural and urban areas in terms of income and to eradicate rural poverty,” he added.

He said the new target for Sarawak’s durian paste export could only be set in June.

A.T.A Supplies owner Adeline Poo Pehi Sian said the durian paste they are exporting so far are from Kuching, Samarahan, Padawan, Simunjan, Bau and Betong.

A.T.A Supplies, which started operation in 2015, purchases good quality kampung durian from local farmers and wholesalers for processing and the paste is shipped to its counterpart in Kuala Lumpur.

Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, Manred permanent secretary Dato Ik Pahon Joyik and Sarawak Agriculture Department acting director Dr Alvin Chai were present.