MELAKA, July 6 — Exporting fresh durians to China, which is expected to commence in September, will not affect the market and increase in the price of the fruit in the local market.

Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) director-general Abdul Rashid Bahri said this is because the durians are specifically (exported) for the China market and those selected only involve cloned durian varieties such as ‘Musang King’, ‘IOI’ or ‘Duri Hitam’ (Black Thorn) and depend on demand from China.

“We guarantee that durian prices will not be expensive because for the local market, residents still have options (varieties) including ‘durian kampung’. Besides, the durian season this time around is quite long, which means we expect plentiful fruit until (this) September,” he told reporters after officiating the ‘Program Kendurian@Jualan Agro Madani’ at Pasaraya Aeon Bandaraya Melaka here today.

“So there will be affordable durians in the local market and there may be slight price increases because there are costs that durian sellers have to bear.”