CCTV News (Reporter Wang Jingyuan Lu Yuanyuan):During the two sessions of the National People’s Congress, Lu Yan, deputy head of Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Hainan Province, made suggestions on supporting the high-quality development of the domestic durian industry.
This year, Lv Yan came to Beijing with the durian wenchuang doll "Liu Xiaoxin" from her hometown. In an interview with CCTV reporters, she repeatedly talked about the historical origin of Baoting County and Durian in her hometown.
Lu Yan introduced that in 1958, the first durian tree introduced from China was successfully planted in Baoting. After the efforts of three generations of researchers and growers, in 2018, Hainan finally harvested the first batch of domestic durian fruits. At present, the planting area of durian in Hainan province is more than 40 thousand mu, of which Baoting accounts for nearly 20 thousand mu. In 2024, 4,000 mu of durian in Baoting entered a high-yield period, with an output value of 60,000 to 100,000 yuan per mu, and its economic benefits far exceeded that of traditional agriculture.
However, in the investigation, Lu Yan found that the development of domestic durian industry still faces many challenges: durian is a typical tropical fruit tree, which requires harsh conditions such as air, sunshine, humidity, temperature, water and fertilizer. Hainan Province is located in the northern edge of the tropical region and needs to cultivate varieties suitable for local cultivation; In the early stage of durian planting, the investment per mu exceeded 10 thousand yuan, which was a heavy burden for farmers; Durian planting technology requires high standards, and growers lack the guidance of standardized planting technology; Compared with traditional durian producing countries, China lacks experience in durian cultivation. At present, durian imported from Southeast Asia still occupies the main market in China, and domestic durian needs to play its own brand.
Facing the pressure of absolute quantity advantage of imported durian, Lu Yan believes that domestic durian must work hard on quality if it wants to break through. For example, many consumers can’t accept the smell of imported durian, and this smell is caused by "cooking on the road" — — Imported durians are usually picked when they are ripe in June or July, and then naturally placed or ripened during transportation.
In contrast, domestic durian from Hainan can be cooked on the tree, with higher sweetness and sweet taste. The scarcity of "ripe on the tree" is also the reason why the price of domestic durian is generally higher than that of imported durian.
"People want to plant, but they can’t plant. They all want to get planting training to reduce the sunk cost of investment." Lu Yan said that Hainan, as the only tropical island province in China, has the unique advantage of developing the domestic durian industry after more than 60 years of exploration. This industry is expected to become a gold industry with tropical characteristics and efficient agriculture, injecting new kinetic energy into the revitalization of rural industries. "I think we have achieved ‘ Durian Freedom ’ Just around the corner. "
According to customs data, the import of durian in China reached a record high of 15.6 billion kilograms in 2024. Lu Yan said that in the face of such a huge market, domestic durian must seize the opportunity. At this year’s National People’s Congress, she made suggestions to strengthen scientific and technological support, build a domestic durian geographical indication brand, form an industrial cluster, and provide a "Hainan Plan" to reduce import dependence and ensure the supply security of tropical agricultural products.