Davao durian fest highlight of city’s Kadayawan season

By Maya M. Padillo, Correspondent

DAVAO CITY — Durian, touted as “the king of fruit,” is in the spotlight this month with multiple varieties on exhibit during the Kadayawan sa Davao Festival.

The 10th Durian Festival, organized by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 11, SM Lanang Premier, and the Durian Industry Association of Davao City, opened on Friday at the north wing of SM Lanang. The varieties on display include D101, puyat, native, arancillo, Montong Obosa, D24, Duyaya, Cob, and Durio Graveolens (Brunei).

Also sharing in the billing are fruits of the region like mangosteen, marang, and rambutan.

Lawyer Genevieve E. Velicaria-Guevarra, assistant secretary for Legislative Affairs at the DA, said durian is the symbol of Davao City’s character and strength.

“We celebrate not only our bountiful harvests but also our shared spirit, heritage, and resilience, as one community,” Ms. Guevarra said.

The Durian Festival runs until Sept. 15.

John Tan, CEO of Eng Seng Food Products (ESFP), a durian exporter, said the industry needs to enhance the crop’s quality to be competitive in the export market.

“We need quality durian before quantity. Lalo na ngayon napansin ko maraming linghod (unripe)… We need to educate the farmers para maka harvest sa tama na panahon. Sayang kasi hundred million ang mawawala dahil linghod, sayang natapon lang. Kasi pag linghod itatapon ’yan (I have noticed that many of the fruit are unripe. The farmers need to be educated when to harvest. Unripe fruit means hundreds of millions of pesos wasted),” Mr. Tan told BusinessWorld.

Mr. Tan said the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry in Region 11 have been conducting training for the farmers.

“We need to improve the quality of our durian. We need quality production of durian for export,” he said.

ESFP was one of the four exporters involved in the inaugural shipment of Davao durian to China in April 2024.

Mr. Tan said the exporters are hoping to start China deliveries next week at a volume of 300 to 400 containers.

Aside from China, he said exporters are targeting Canada and the US, with the Canada target set at about 10 tons of fresh fruit via air freight.

“We need to push for good variety and good quality para maging successful tayo sa (in order to succeed in the) export market,” Mr. Tan said.