KOTA BARU: The Kelantan chapter of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) has activated its 2026 Durian Marketing Intervention Plan to prevent potential oversupply during the peak harvest season from driving down farm-gate prices and affecting farmers' incomes.
Its director, Muhamad Razis Samsu, said a simultaneous increase in production could result in supply exceeding demand, putting pressure on prices if not properly managed.
To help stabilise the market, he said Kelantan Fama has arranged the sale of 500 tonnes of seasonal fruits, including durian, through its Seasonal Fruit Sales Programme at 20 locations in 10 districts statewide.
"The programme involves more than 15 Fama marketing entrepreneurs and benefits 20 farmers, while expanding market access for growers and enabling consumers to purchase local durians at reasonable prices," he told reporters at the programme at RTC Kelantan here on Thursday (July 9).
Razis said Fama is also leveraging the capacity of its Machang Durian Processing Centre to manage excess supply by producing value-added products such as frozen durian flesh, durian paste and tempoyak for the domestic and export markets.
He said the centre is capable of processing up to three tonnes of durian daily and storing up to 30 tonnes of finished products.
According to Fama's monitoring, there are currently no signs of a durian glut in Kelantan, with Musang King durians selling at between RM15 and RM35 per kilogramme, while kampung durians are priced at RM3 to RM5 per kilogramme, depending on grade, quality and location.
Razis said Fama, together with the Agriculture Department, would continue to strengthen advisory services to encourage farmers to adopt Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (MyGAP) and comply with grading, packaging and labelling (GPL) requirements to improve the competitiveness of local produce.
On China's tighter import requirements and quarantine enforcement for durians from South-East Asia, he said Fama is also exploring alternative export markets, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada. – Bernama
