From a durian fruit farm - the whiff of success

Prices for durian, the pungent, spiky-shelled fruit native to south-east Asia, have risen steadily over the last few years to the point where a good-sized 4kg durian can fetch up to $100 at market. If any produce has earned the label ‘cash crop,’ it’s the durian, whose moniker as ‘the king of fruits’ now fits like never before. A single successful harvest on an average sized durian farm can keep a farmer’s family afloat for years. And with that kind of income at stake, growers are loath to leave their harvests to chance...