Yala Durian City

Yala Governor Anuchit Trakulmututa said that the "Yala Durian City” program has been included as part of the agenda of Yala province this year. The program aims to add value to local durian through processing and to develop the province as a center for durian trade and durian processing business in the five southern border provinces.

The Governor said that the Yala Provincial Agriculture Office had been assigned as the core agency in pushing for the development of the Yala Durian City. Other relevant agencies will also join forces in promoting durian production and tackling problems faced by local durian growers.

Recently, agriculture experts provided more than 800 durian growers in Yala with knowledge about how to produce durian with greater efficiency. They have encouraged local durian growers to form a group in order to be engaged in large-scale durian farming, which would help reduce production costs and increase productivity.

The Yala Governor said that, as demand for durian is increasing, while rubber prices have fallen, many local farmers in Yala have turned from planting rubber to growing durian. Durian in Yala is delicious and is in great demand in local and foreign markets.

The planting area for durian in this province is more than 50,000 rai, or 20,000 acres. Yala produces over 20,000 tons of durian a year. It has become the largest durian producing area in the Lower South of Thailand. The durian season in the southern region is from June to August, while that in the eastern region is from May to July.

Apart from natural rubber, other cash crops in Yala include fruit, especially durian, longkong, mangosteen, rambutan, and the "shogun” orange.