The season of the ‘King of Fruits’ is here again. While some popular varieties like the ‘musang king’ are enjoying the attention, there are also durian lovers who prefer village varieties like the Batu Kurau durian from Perak.

However, in Mukim Pulau Tiga, Kampung Gajah, here, it is neither the ‘musang king’ nor the Batu Kurau which holds court, for this is the realm of the ‘Paduka’ (His Royal Highness) durian.

Crowned the best durian in Perak in 1985, it was planted by the late Abdul Malek Kulub Aji on his eight-hectare farm.

According to one of his 13 children, Nordin, 48, Abdul Malek Kulub collected the durian saplings from the 1970s to 1980s from an orchard owner in Kampung Tok Paduka Raja, Pulau Tiga, here.

“It got its name from the village which was called Kampung Tok Paduka Raja by Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib (then Perak Menteri Besar) when he presented the winning prize during the state durian competition in Kampung Gajah in 1985,” he told Bernama here recently.

Nordin who is iGROW (Agro Entrepreneur Institute) executive chairman in Kampung Gajah said, the glory of the Paduka durian should be revived, because it is among the best in Perak and in the country.

“Even today, the trees are found throughout the country, planted by growers in the 1980s. If Pahang has its ‘Musang King’ durian, Penang its ‘Udang Merah’, then Paduka durian should be the brand or identity of Perak,” he said.

According to Nordin, at present, on the iGROW farm, there are about 120 trees of various village durians and of these, only 10 are of the Paduka species, labelled as D148 by the Agricutural Department, which can produce between 200 to 300 fruits each.

“Since the big flood in 2014, we had a problem of many of the trees dying, and we needed to replant to ensure that public can continue to enjoy the Paduka durian, and we can get the seeds to be replanted and sold.

“The size of the fruit is not big but each carpel (section) is always full of its yellow golden flesh, the taste is rich and ‘gassy’, and the seed is small, and it is delicious eaten as it is without sticky rice or made into ‘pengat’,” he said.

Nordin said, since 10 years back, iGROW has not sold the Paduka durian on its farm, but the fruits are only served to families, friends and customers of iGROW which also offers tourism agro packages.

“In fact, several leaders and foreign visitors, including from Thailand and Indonesia, have also visited iGROW to enjoy the Paduka durian,” said Nordin, who sells the D148 for as low as RM50 per seed.

Nordin also urged the state government to boost the efforts to commercialise the Paduka durian in Perak by encouraging fruit-based products such as cakes and dodol. - BERNAMA