BANGKOK, Feb 6 – Thailand’s Agriculture Ministry is concerned of Thai durian exports which are affected by Indonesia’s new ban on agricultural imports.
Thai Agriculture Minister Yukol Lim-laemthong said the Indonesian import ban will negatively affect the durian business at about Bt600 million/year in value.
The ministry’s deputy permanent-secretary Chalit Dhamrongsak was assigned to travel to Indonesia to negotiate with the appropriate agencies to fix the problem immediately.
Mr Yukol said the ministry, meanwhile, is planning to control the amount of durian to be supplied to the market in May to comply with domestic demand, while durian exports will also be promoted. If the fruit cannot be exported to Indonesia, new markets are to be looked for such as in Vietnam or China.
The durian harvest this year is expected at a demand level of 529,500 tonnes, an increase of 1.12 per cent compared to last year.
The central and southern regions of Thailand have the highest areas of durian plantation together at over 500,000 tonnes of production.
