China’s durian craze drives Thailand’s tech farming boom
In 2023, China imported 1.56 million tonnes of Thai durian
Most people either adore it or gag at the smell, but durian — the spiky “king of fruits” that “tastes like heaven and smells like hell” — is winning over Chinese consumers in record numbers.
Thailand, the world’s top durian exporter, is racing to modernise production as demand from China soars. Chinese agricultural experts are now working alongside Thai farmers to upgrade orchards and improve yields using smart technology.
“Thailand has perfect natural conditions for growing tropical fruits, and its durians are among the best in the region,” said Zhou Zhaoxi of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. Despite China’s cultivation efforts in Hainan province, production there barely scratches the surface of demand.
Data from China Customs revealed that in 2023 alone, China imported around 1.56 million metric tonnes of durian, worth nearly US$7 billion (approximately 227.2 billion baht), with nearly 60% of those imports coming from Thailand.
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To help Thai farmers handle growing pressures, the Thai Digital Economy Promotion Agency launched the Digital Durian Initiative last year. The programme introduces tools to record and track crop data, aiming to reduce losses from unpredictable weather and plant diseases.
In Chanthaburi province, Thailand’s durian heartland, farmer Chord Chanbuppha said more growers are switching from longan and mangosteen to durian, hoping for higher profits. But with trees taking up to eight years to mature, the stakes are high.
“Local farmers are at the mercy of the forces of nature,” Chord explained.
Chinese tech company Beyondsoft has turned Chord’s orchard into a showcase for innovation, installing integrated water and fertiliser systems, soil sensors and real-time monitoring.
“All that data is uploaded to an online system, guiding scientific farming,” said Chang Canxian, Beyondsoft’s regional operations director.
CP Group, Thailand’s largest agri-food business, is also pushing high-tech solutions. In partnership with Huawei Cloud, it developed near-infrared sensors paired with artificial intelligence to check each fruit’s ripeness, replacing the traditional tapping method prone to human error, reported The Nation.
“We now achieve 80% accuracy, and this will improve as more data comes in,” said Jiang Yuejun, CP Group’s chief technology officer.
As global demand spreads to supermarkets in the US, UK and Australia, Thai exporters are determined to keep their pungent “smelly gold” at the top of the world’s shopping lists.
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