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  Channel NewsAsia 14 Dec 05
Malaysian farmer cultivates colourful durians
By ASEAN News Exchange

JITRA : In many parts of Southeast Asia, the durian is known as the king of the fruits.

In Malaysia, one farmer has spent 20 years experimenting on durians and he has cultivated purple, red and orange durians.

His two-hectare fruit orchard in Jitra, a town in the Malaysian state of Kedah, sees scores of visitors dropping by each day. They are all there to admire the durians grown by Mr Mohd Sofi Ibrahim, a former school teacher turned fruit farmer.

For the past 20 years, he has travelled to the jungles all over East and West Malaysia, as well as Brunei and Indonesia, to gather different types of durians to add to his collection.

Today, his orchard is home to 150 durian trees and boasts 72 varieties.

His favourites are the wild durians, which surprisingly smell more like jackfruits. Mr Mohd Sofi said: "The wild durian is different from the others. Its size is smaller than the normal durians and does not have the distinctive smell of the fruit."

Not only that, Mr Mohd Sofi also managed to cultivate durians of various shades. Apart from the usual rich cream colours, his fruits come in hues of purple, red and orange!

Although he has received many calls to produce his durians for commercial trade, Mr Mohd Sofi has steadfastly refused to do so. Instead, he prefers to donate his durian fruits to orphanages around Kedah and other nearby Malaysian states. - CNA/de
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