The orchard, Ban Suan Benchamat, is located in a subdistrict of Khlung district, one of the most affected by the storm that swept through the province last Thursday.
A video shared on the owner’s Facebook account, Neeranuch Keawpung, showed more than 10 trees uprooted, with large amounts of fruit left strewn across the orchard.
The owner said the more than 10 tons of durian already lost did not include damage in the hillside plot and lower sections of the plantation that had yet to be fully assessed.
The storm came as eastern Thailand entered its durian season, which is expected to peak between this month and June.
“How am I supposed to cope with this? We were about to cut the second batch of durian. This is a natural disaster,” the owner spoke tearfully in the video, as quoted by Thai newspaper The Nation. “Please look at the risks farmers have to carry.”
Fresh durian fruit seen on the ground in Thailand. Photo by ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters |
Her video drew an outpouring of support online. She later thanked netizens and said she was seeking buyers willing to take in “storm-fallen durian” to help offset losses and fund recovery efforts.
To help curb losses from the summer storms, Suriya Jungrungreangkit, Thailand’s minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, has ordered moves to fast-track support for affected farmers, dispatching teams to impacted areas and initiating relief efforts across the country, as reported by Pattaya Mail.
Authorities have been instructed to quickly evaluate the extent of the damage and set up networks to buy fallen durians that can still be used for processing into items such as fried durian and paste.
At the same time, growers are being guided on how to restore their orchards, including trimming broken branches, stabilizing damaged trees and securing remaining fruit to avoid further losses.
Earlier in April, a summer storm also battered durian plantations in Kantharalak district in the northeastern province of Sisaket, uprooting hundreds of trees and destroying tonnes of fruit. Losses from the fallen fruit alone were estimated at around 39 million baht, the Bangkok Post reported.
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