On November 22, Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Dith Tina, met with durian farmers and plantation owners as well as local authorities during a visit to Mak Brang commune in Kampot province’s Teuk Chhou district, according to a statement posted on the minister’s official Facebook page.
Tina encouraged the plantation owners to form a cooperative to better maintain yields and meet quality standards, as well as to increase “value-added”, or the economic value added to the crop – and products thereof – before they are made available to consumers.
“I plan to make a modern QR-code sticker to place on the durian, to indicate the plantation’s location, type of durian, expiration dates, and the identity of the plantation’s owner. This will be a major convenience for consumers, providing them with the data to make informed choices, instilling trust among the people and assuaging their worries of misrepresentation of name and quality,” he said in the statement.
An owner of the “King of Durian” shops and a grower of the fruit in Kampot’s Chhouk district, praised the initiative as an indication of the new minister’s focus on durian cultivation as well as building trust between growers and consumers.
