Thailand’s Digital Durian Transformation: Meeting China’s Unprecedented Demand

Most people either love it with a passion or recoil from its pungent aroma – yes, I’m talking about durian. This spiky “king of fruits,” infamous for its heavenly taste but hellish smell, has seduced the palates of Chinese consumers in unprecedented numbers. As a result, Thailand, the world’s top durian exporter, has found itself racing to modernize its production in order to meet this burgeoning demand. Even now, Chinese agricultural experts are collaborating with Thai farmers to transform orchards and boost yields using smart technology. According to Zhou Zhaoxi of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, “Thailand boasts ideal natural conditions for cultivating tropical fruits, and its durians are simply among the finest in the region.”

Despite valiant cultivation efforts in China’s Hainan province, local production merely grazes the very surface of the country’s insatiable demand. China Customs data reported that, in 2023 alone, the nation imported an eye-watering 1.56 million metric tonnes of durian valued at nearly US$7 billion, or roughly 227.2 billion baht, with close to 60% of those luscious imports coming from Thailand. In a bid to help Thai farmers cope with mounting pressures, the Thai Digital Economy Promotion Agency launched an innovative program last year – the Digital Durian Initiative. Through this initiative, farmers gain access to tools for logging and monitoring crop data, aiming to minimize losses caused by fickle weather and relentless plant diseases.

In the lush fields of Chanthaburi province, Thailand’s durian heartland, grower Chord Chanbuppha is witnessing a shift. Many farmers are swapping out longan and mangosteen crops in favor of durian, lured by the promise of higher profits. Yet the stakes remain sky-high; after all, durian trees can take up to eight long years to mature. As Chord notes, “Local farmers are at the mercy of the forces of nature.” However, the winds of change are swirling. Chinese tech company Beyondsoft has transformed Chord’s orchard into a gleaming beacon of innovation, installing state-of-the-art water and fertilizer systems, soil sensors, and a real-time monitoring network. “Every bit of data uploads to an online system, ushering in a new age of scientific farming,” declared Chang Canxian, Beyondsoft’s regional operations visionary.

Adding another layer of sophistication, CP Group, Thailand’s agribusiness titan, has unrolled high-tech solutions in conjunction with Huawei Cloud. Together, they’ve developed near-infrared sensors married with artificial intelligence that scrutinize each durian for ripeness, swiftly replacing the trusty old tapping method that often proves to be riddled with human error, reports The Nation. According to Jiang Yuejun, CP Group’s Chief Technology Maestro, “We’ve nailed an 80% accuracy rate, and this will only climb higher as more data pours in.” With global cravings making their way to markets in the US, UK, and Australia, Thai exporters have set their sights on keeping their potent, “smelly gold” at the top of the world’s shopping lists.