ISKANDAR PUTERI: Some two tonnes of fresh durian are processed into tempoyak (fermented durian) and pulp daily to address the oversupply in the king of fruits in northern Johor, says Datuk Zahari Sarip.
The state agriculture, agro-based industries and rural development committee chairman said the processing activities are conducted at a food processing centre in Tangkak.
“The processing centre, set up by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, has helped to address the oversupply of durians in Tangkak, Muar and Segamat.
“The centre is equipped with machines to separate the durian flesh into paste, vacuum packing equipment, blast freezers and cold room that can store 22 tonnes of frozen durian at any single time,” he told the Johor state assembly sitting at Kota Iskandar here on Wednesday (June 22).
Zahari added that Johor produced 121,898 tonnes of durian in 2021, which involved 31,255 growers across 19,171ha of land.
The figure is expected to increase by 13.47% to 141,862 tonnes by 2027, he said.
To achieve this, the Agriculture Department through its plantation industry development unit in Ayer Hitam has produced 5,000 high quality durian seedlings annually since 2016, he added.
“The amount was increased to 20,000 seedlings in 2019 and the plants were distributed to farmers statewide.
“The state government has also allocated about RM6.34mil for durian plantation development since 2018 and this year, we have allocated RM2.17mil to incentivise 233 durian growers that cover about 504.9ha throughout Johor,” he added.
