TANAH MERAH: A mysterious disease has damaged the King of Fruits in some 100 Musang King durian orchards here and Jeli, with smallholders facing up to RM1 million in losses.
Surveys at several durian orchards in the affected areas saw operators showing worm infested and spoiled fruits.
The durian orchard operators claimed that trees which previously could produce some 500 durian fruits each season can now only produce a few good fruits.
One of the Musang King durian orchard owners, Che Mohd Zaid Che Hasan, 65 said this is the first time orchard owners are facing such a predicament after eight years of managing their respective smallholdings in Kampung Air Gatal, here, resulting in RM100,000 in losses.
"Because of the attack of this mysterious disease, the durian is in terrible shape with the fruit skin suffering bruises and blisters and falling from branches before they are ripe.
"Durian wholesalers nationwide who we used to supply have also fled, as I could not supply high quality Musang King because of the mysterious disease.
"Besides Musang King, other durians such as the D24, IOI, Tok Litok and Durian Kampung varieties are also infected with the mysterious disease. Almost all of my 1.2 ha of land has been affected," he said.
Most Musang King smallholders said it was the first time that such a mysterious disease had affected their orchard, affecting almost 95 per cent of their durian crop.
Ibrahim Abdullah, 65, another Musang King durian smallholder in Kampung Ayer Chanal, here said he had to sell packaged content instead of the whole fruit. This is to enable only the good content to be sold instead of the spoilt parts.
"The fruit is sold at a cheaper price of around RM35 to RM40 a kg. This way, we can choose the good content before selling it to our customers.
"I really hope those responsible for helping us would conduct a study on the disease which is attacking our fruits so the same problem will no longer occur in the coming seasons," he said.
Lanas Jedok Area Farmers' Organisation Chairman, Zulkifli Yunus said most smallholders, apart from durian, also planted rambutan, mangosteen and other fruits in their land to make a living and that such incidents put dent in their income.
He said the authorities will also go down to the orchards to help solve the mysterious disease problem and find the best solution for their predicament.