Just ask - Philippine have durian ?

Hi Abdullah still remembered the durian tour in Malaysia organised by the TT group ? In Philippine Davao Region is not just a producer of that stinky but delicious durian fruit, but it is also considered a top producer among the Top Ten Fruits produced by the region as shown on the list of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAI) for the period 2008 to 2009. Among the major fruit crops of the Davao Region, consisting of this city, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental, are banana, calamansi, mango, pineapple, durian, lanzones, mangosteen, papaya, rambutan, watermelon, and mandarin. BAS,

I heard that the pomelo production in the region for the year 2008 at 15,824.49 metric tons, watermelon, 1,985.27 metric tons of lanzones, 10,028.88 metric tons of calamansi, and 408.63 metric tons of mangosteen.

Pomelo, also known as Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis or “suha” in the dialect, is actually one of the top “pasalubong” items from Davao City to Cebu, Manila and other parts of the country.  Those who grew in Davao or frequented the city in the 80’s consider these fruit stands as a familiar sight and perhaps part of the landmarks of the city. Most of these establishments have been in the same area for more than 20 years. Meanwhile, a report from the Department of Agriculture (DA) shows that Davao Region is still the top producer of pomelo in the country with a production volume of 39 percent, only higher by one percent compared to the Cagayan Valley Region. The region’s pomelo production could be higher if not for problems related to pests and diseases. To remedy this, the Southern Mindanao Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (SMARRDEC) came up with a program to boost the development of pomelo in the region.

I brought the durian in Manila, however the seller identify and called it Golden Pillow. Munthong. Chanee. Arancillo. Piara. These are among the best varieties of durian in Calinan, Davao City. The durian had delicate taste of these sweet, creamy and carry an aroma like aged wine. Is a tedious evaluation process on the quality of durian trees is a the personnel go to different areas, usually in places where old durian trees are found, to look for new varieties with potential and bring back a scion (shoot) of the variety to their experimental field for grafting, then planting, marking the start of years of careful evaluation of the fruit. One of the criteria used by BPI-PhilFruits in declaring new found durian tree as a variety is its internal quality, specifically the percentage of the fruit's edible portion.
"The recommendation depends on the result of our internal evaluation. Once the edible portion reaches 25 percent and over. the seller told me some durian fruits they found tasted good, but were thick-skinned and had big seeds, hence not worthy of recommendation. A number of native durian varieties fall under this category, he added. But they're working on ways on how to improve them. Aside from the percentage of the edible portion, the yield capacity and resistance to sickness are also considered. As for the yield capacity of a durian fruit tree, like any other tree, depends on its size.

Another registered variety is GD69 (Galang Durian 69, the figure referring to the tree number). GD69, usually bigger compared to other varieties, is one of the most sought-after durian fruits as it has more than 40 percent edible portion. Aside from its generous edible part, GD69 is popular among farmers as it's an early-bearing variety which produces fruits at age two or three years. Mamer durian, known among Dabawenyos as native durian, is considered as the best native variety in Calinan. Named after Mamerto Fernandez, Mamer durian with a 25 percent edible portion is common in Barangays Serib and Dumalang in Calinan.

Another Calinan durian which is also registered as a variety with NSIC is Alcon Fancy. But this variety, with thicker flesh and edible portion reaching to 40 percent, rarely turns up in fruit stands as durian lovers usually buy them directly from farms that produce them like Alcon farms in Tugbok. The other registered durian varieties are Atabrine (native) and Duyaya (Durian and Biyaya) which was named after farmer-scientist Severino Belviz of Calinan. Duyaya, Loquias said, is a first generation of Monthong. We should organized a durian tour package here.