*Platinum Member*
Centennial Member
Posts: 110446
Liked By: 63542
Joined: 30 Jun 10
Followers:
3
Tipsters
Championship:
Player
has
not started
|
Raub, known as the Musang King Durian Town, is famed for its prized durians grown in the lush, hilly terrains of Malaysia’s Pahang state.PHOTO: SAVE MUSANG KING ALLIANCE
Mr Chow clarified that there were only verbal assurances, and no formal agreements were signed with the farmers. He noted that some farmers began cultivating the land as early as the 1960s, with no objections from the local authorities at the time. The federal government’s Green Book Programme in the 1970s further encouraged agricultural activities, giving farmers the impression that their efforts were supported, he said. “Some of them started in the 1960s, and the local authorities didn’t block them from going in. After the Green Book programme encouraged farmers to cultivate, more farmers went in,” he added.
Some of the farmers say they have submitted multiple applications over the years to obtain legal title to the land, but were rejected without explanation.
Mr Chang, who is the president of Samka, said he has been been trying to legalise the status of the 3.2ha of land his family has worked on since 1968.
“We have submitted eight applications (to the state authorities since then), and all of them were rejected,” he told ST.
Though the dispute has at times been framed by outsiders as racial in nature, involving Chinese Malaysian farmers and the Malay-led state government, around 100 of the unlicensed farmers, or one-tenth, are Malays.
Hundreds of millions of ringgit are at stake in the longstanding dispute.
Malaysia’s durian exports, totalling more than 27,000 tonnes, amounted to US$44.49 million (S$57.3 million) in 2023, according to global trade data provider TradeImeX. Singapore primarily imports its durians from Malaysia, buying US$15.45 million of the thorny fruit in 2023.
About 60 per cent of Malaysia’s total durian exports go to China, making it the South-east Asian country’s largest international market for the region’s “king of fruits”. China alone imported RM1 billion worth of durians from Malaysia in 2024, after Malaysia signed a deal with Beijing allowing the shipment of fresh durians. Shipments were previously restricted to frozen products. Its durian imports from Malaysia are expected to rise 20 per cent this year, with Musang King leading the demand.
By 2030, Malaysia hopes to export more than US$500 million worth of durians, on the back of rising global demand.
But farmers caught up in the conflict are not reaping the fruits of their labour.
“I have no income now. I have to take on odd jobs at other people’s farms, like spraying pesticides,” said a 65-year-old Chinese Malaysian farmer, one of six farmers who spoke to ST in Raub district. They say they have been prevented from working the land their families have tended to for generations for about a year.
“I can’t sleep at night. I have no money and no future,” he said, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
As for RPD’s hold on the disputed area, the group was awarded the lease and land use rights for 2,167ha of land in Raub for a period of 30 plus 30 years by the Pahang state government in June 2020, based on information from its website.
In July that same year, RPD and its partner, state agency Pahang State Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPP), announced a “land legalisation scheme” that would “provide legitimacy and a win-win solution to all illegal farmers in the district of Raub”, the website states.
Durian farmers who sign up for the scheme are granted land use rights, provided they sell their harvest to the group at a fixed price. Former Selangor state executive councillor Ronnie Liu, who has been acting as middleman between the farmers and RPD, told ST around 400 farmers have signed up for the scheme so far. However, several farmers have voiced concerns that the prices were set “too low”.
Years of discussions have only recently yielded a modest increase in buyback prices for the durians.
“Now, they (RPD) are willing to increase the price for Grade A Musang King to RM35 per kg, up from RM30 since 2020, and Grade B Musang King from RM18 per kg to RM22 per kg,” said lawmaker Mr Chow. This is still three to four times below the market rate for the prized Musang King Variety.
RPD declined to comment on the matter.
|
Main Menu >
Gossip Corner >
Durian prices up or down?
1
) 
Find all Topics Started by LONGSTER
Find all Posts by LONGSTER
Follow / Unfollow
PM LONGSTER
Sunday
9:35 AM (1 day ago)
0 Likes
Like
