Kadayawan will have fewer durians, other fruits

Workers load durians at a fruit stall outside Magsaysay Park in Davao City. MindaNews file photo by MANMAN DEJETO

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 01 August) — This year’s Kadayawan Festival will be one with fewer durians and almost no other fruits from Davao, which is rather ironic for an event meant to be a celebration of abundant harvest.

During the ISpeak presscon Thursday, Fe Oguio, the focal person for cacao and durian of the City Agricultural Office, said they are exploring possible supplies of durian in other cities and provinces in Davao Region.

“Though naa ang (there is) durian, but we can explore,” she said.

Around 3,000 hectares are planted to durian in Davao, but only 2,000 hectares are considered as “bearing areas.”

At Bangkerohan Public Market, “Winnie,” who has been a fruit vendor for 20 years said fruits such as tisa, mangosteen, labana (guyabano), caimito, and lanzones should have been available this time of the month, but may only arrive by September.

Another fruit vendor, Gaga Datila, said the rambutans arrived earlier this week.

Datila said the lanzones trees are just beginning to bear fruit, and will possibly be available by September.

Chel, who has been selling durian for around 15 years, said that even in 2024, durian supply was also low during the last week of July and first week of August.

“There’s no steady supply,” he said, pointing out that the supplies might arrive by the end of August or early September.

During peak season, he said, they would have at least one ton of delivery per week. But since February, only 200 kilos at most of durian have been delivered per week.

Renie, who has been selling durian for four years, said their delivery could reach up to even one ton everyday.

But since January, prices soared to P350 per kilo, and only dropped by May. For now, prices range from P180-250.

In Magsaysay, Davao City, durian stalls have also felt the low supply.

Vendors now only get deliveries of around 200 kilos per week – sometimes a maximum of around 800 kilos – since February and March, instead of the usual 500 kilos to one ton per day during durian season.

However, 20-year durian vendor Borloloy Ayola said the decline in the supply can already be felt by the last week of September.

Ariel Uy, who has been a durian vendor for two decades, said there are instances that about half of the delivery are unripe durians.

“We just wait for the durian to ripen here in our stall,” he said, adding some suppliers would even hold their supplies, which may cause prices to shoot up.

The vendors expected the season’s batch to arrive by the end of August or first week of September.

Uy said they are looking for durian in other areas of Davao Region and beyond, citing Kidapawan City and Cagayan de Oro City as among the areas with supplies of the fruit.

He added that although the supply may be low, this will suffice for the month until the peak season’s harvest.

Jocelyn Tondag, whose durian stall has been here since 2002, said exportation is one reason for the low supply of durian in the local market.

The City Agriculture Office reported that from January to February 2025, Davao exported a total of 20,237.77 tons of both fresh and frozen durian.

Jocelyn and Uy said that last year, the durians were already available by the early week of August.

As of Friday, the price of the durian puyat variety was from P250-300 per kilo, while other varieties were sold at P200-250 per kilo.

Oguio said that for now they can only monitor the prices of fruits that are being sold in malls.She said lanzones and rambutan are also unavailable this month, but there are jackfruit, marang, pomelo, mangosteen, and mangoes in the markets. (Razl EJ Teman/MindaNews)