"Durian will soon be fruit for all season"

Durian has often been described as "a fruit that tastes like heaven but smells like hell".

However, to the ordinary durian consumers who are mostly minimum wage earners, the "hell" pact is not the smell but rather the price,especially during the off-season, when prices could become prohibitively high due to scarcity of supply.

But thanks to a study conducted by Roman Armenio, Jr., Myrna S. Cantilla and Milani Abad of the Department of Agriculture-Southern Mindanao Integrated Agriculture Research Center (DA-SMIARC), it is now possible to produce durian anytime of the year.

According to the study entitled "Flower induction in durian", certain growth regulators such as Paclobutrazol and Multi-K, when sprayed on durian trees of bearing age at the time when the flushes (new leaves) are already mature, will promote off-season flowering 10 to 21 days from application.

The study further revealed that average number of off-season fruits production per tree was over 80 for those sprayed with Paclobutrazol and over 64 for those with Multi-K.

For durian farmers, this technology could mean additional income in terms of increased yield and relatively higher prices during off-season while for the common durian consumer, more durian fruit supply during off-season would eventually result to a slight decrease in prices.

For more details regarding the technology, please contact DA-SMIARC, Bago Oshiro, Davao City with telephone number (082)293-0109