BANGKOK, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives said on Friday that fruit production in the southern region has expanded nearly 6 percent comparing to last year, with durian output seeing the most growth of 22 percent and China remaining Thailand's top durian importer.
The survey of 14 southern provinces in the first half of 2020 shows that the region has produced 844,003 tons of economic fruit, a 5.93-percent increase from last year's output of 796,751 tons, said the ministry's Office of Agricultural Economics.
Durian recorded the highest increase in output with 588,337 tons, a 22.03-percent increase year-on-year, but some fruits saw a drop in output such as rambutan with 50,280 tons, longkong 52,178 tons and mangosteen 153,208 tons, said Unchana Tracho, the Department's deputy secretary general.
"The reason behind the big jump in durian output is the market price has been increasing, which attracts more farmers to grow the fruit, while other fruits have suffered from lower growing areas and the drought," Unchana added.
The department said that from January to April during the COVID-19 pandemic, China remains the top durian buyer of Thailand, which exported 567 million U.S. dollars of durians to China, up 78 percent year-on-year in value. Enditem
