Bring back the glory of Paduka durian as best in Perak, urges planter

PASIR SALAK (Bernama): The season of the "King of Fruits" is here again and while popular varieties such as "musang king" are enjoying the attention, there are also durian lovers who prefer village varieties like the Batu Kurau durian from Perak.

However, in Mukim Pulau Tiga, Kampung Gajah here, it is neither the musang king nor the Batu Kurau that holds court, for this is the realm of the "Paduka" (Royal Highness) durian.

Crowned the best durian in Perak in 1985, it was planted by the late Abdul Malek Kulub Aji on his 8ha farm.

According to one of his 13 children, Nordin, 48, Abdul Malek Kulub collected durian saplings from the 1970s to the 1980s from an orchard owner in Kampung Tok Paduka Raja, Pulau Tiga, here.

"It got its name from the village which was called Kampung Tok Paduka Raja by Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib (then Perak mentri besar) when he presented the winning prize during the state durian competition in Kampung Gajah in 1985,” he told Bernama recently.

Nordin, who is iGrow (Agro-Entrepreneur Institute) executive chairman in Kampung Gajah, said the glory of the Paduka durian should be revived, because it is among the best in Perak and in the country.

"Even today, the trees are found throughout the country, planted by growers in the 1980s. If Pahang has its 'musang king’ durian, Penang its ‘udang merah’, then Paduka durian should be the brand or identity of Perak,” he said.

According to Nordin, at present, on the iGrow farm, there are about 120 trees of various types of village durians and of these, only 10 are of the Paduka species, labelled as D148 by the Agricutural Department.

Each tree can produce between 200 to 300 fruits each.

"Since the big flood in 2014, we had a problem where many of the trees were dying, and we needed to replant to ensure that the public can continue to enjoy the Paduka durian, and we can get the seeds to be replanted and sold.

"The size of the fruit is not big but each carpel (section) is always full of yellow golden flesh, the taste is rich and ‘gassy’, and the seed is small.

"It is delicious eaten as it is without sticky rice or being made into ‘pengat’,” he said.

Nordin said since 10 years back, iGrow had not sold the Paduka durian on its farm, but the fruits were only served to families, friends and customers of iGrow, which also offers agro-tourism packages.

"In fact, several leaders and foreign visitors, including from Thailand and Indonesia, have also visited iGrow to enjoy the Paduka durian,” said Nordin, who sells the D148 for as low as RM50 per fruit.

Nordin also urged the state government to boost the efforts to commercialise the Paduka durian in Perak by encouraging fruit-based products such as cakes and dodol. - Bernama