My Durian Best Of The World: Website Dept. of Agriculture Malaysia -Durian Info & Services

The Malaysian Department of Agriculture's website has a lot of information on durian especially the Malaysian varieties.

It's amicable to find that this site has an English version besides the official Bahasa Malaysia version. Most of the stuff on durian can be found under e-Services.

This page aims to help you navigate the site to get some of this durian information and the services provided by DOA that I think will be very helpful to you in managing your durian farm.

DOA - Home Page _ English Version

Let's begin with the e-Services that has 9 options for you as a Customer.

The online services range from extension, technical support, courses, schemes, permits, licenses to agribazaar.

DOA - Online Services for Customer

On the left column of the screen, directly under heading Customer is Extension, Advisory and Consultancy services - one of the main functions of DOA. This page is for people who are interested in starting an agricultural project or are involved with some kind of agricultural activity. As durian farmers you are in this group.

One of the core programs under Extension, Advisory and Consultancy services is "Dokter Pokok" literally translated as "Tree Doctor" and you should make good use of this service.

This program is known in full as Doktor Pokok Development Clinic.

This is THE place you go to where you can present and resolve any issues pertaining to agricultural activities.

For example, if you have a problem regarding your durian trees (or any other crop), be it pests or diseases, soil issues, cultural practices, irrigation etc, you can approach any Doktor Pokok Development Clinic with your problem and the good "doctor" will help you resolve the problem. And the good news is this service is FREE.

"Doktor Pokok" refers to DOA officers who are experts in various fields while "Development Clinic" refers to the place or counter where the services are provided.

"Doktor Pokok" Expertise

Here are the contact numbers for the various counters/clinics in the federal territories and states:

Doktor Pokok Development Clinic contact numbers

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The next item on the e-Services list is Technical Support that has 9 services listed:

DOA - technical Support Services

In this group, there are four main technical support services - fruit cultivars, seeds and planting materials; crop pests and diseases; soil services and maps: and lab analytical services. While some of these services are channel free under the "Doktor Pokok" program, most of the other technical services are not free.You will have to pay for these dedicated and specialized services.

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Courses and Training is the next item on the e-Services list.

DOA offers several courses for youths as well as for entrepreneurs and farmers. You will have to check this out for the latest news.

Courses and Training

As a durian farmer you can get on-the-spot training on most agricultural practices such as how to identify and control durian pests and diseases, how to apply fertilizers, how to prune your trees etc., by agricultural extension officers under the Doktor Pokok Development Clinic program.

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DOA has eight Schemes and Certificate programs.

DOA's Schemes and Certificate Programs

The Malaysian Good Agriculture Practice Scheme (SALM) and Malaysian Organic Scheme (SOM) are two wonderful programs that you might want to consider.

The Plant Material Verification Scheme or Skim Pengesahan Bahan Tanaman (SPBT) is the most important for durian farmers (or other fruit farmers) who are sourcing for verified planting materials.

Under SPBT, DOA guaranteed the authenticity and quality breeds of plant nurseries.

Plant Material Verification Scheme is for genuine and quality crop producers.

If you looking for genuine and quality fruit nurseries to source your planting material then this site for you.

Presently, there are 37 fruit nurseries registered under the auspices of DOA and you can get a list of these suppliers under SPBT Directory:

SPBT - Directory for the various states

This directory is constantly up-dated and published by DOA in its monthly bulletin :

Monthly Bulletin on SPBT

You can download a copy of this bulletin under Publication. (Link Page under Plant Material Verification Scheme).

Durian Varieties Under SPBT

Please take note that only recommended or registered durian varieties are verified by DOA. Non-recommended durian varieties including "Black Thorn" or " Orchee (Orchi)" are not in this SPBT program. This particular variety is still in the process of verification by DOA.

Free Publications

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The next item under DOA's e-Services is Registration Under Act.

PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION MALAYSIA.

This is Malaysia's version of Plant Breeders' Rights also called Plant Variety Protection (PVP), and is a form of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

New Plant Variety Registration

The Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Malaysia has a separate website and here is the link.

Plant Variety Protection Malaysia Website - Home Page

This is the best site to learn about Malaysian durian varieties and also to register new varieties.

Characteristics of Malaysian Durian Varieties

To get to this page, you will need to follow this path:

Home>National List>Non-Protected Varieties>Plant Database>Fruits>Durian.

Path to Durian Characteristics of Varieties

To check the latest application for registration of durian varieties such as "Orchee", "Orchi" or "Black Thorn", you will need to go to:

Home>National List>Non-protected Varieties>Records>Applications

Application of new Durian Vaviety

For a list of recommended fruit varieties (including durian):

List of Recommended Fruit Varieties in Malaysia

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The next four e-Services are License, Permit, Online Services and AgriBazaar of which the last one may be of interest to those involve in large-scale agricultural production.

AgriBazaar

AgriBazaar was established with the purpose of promoting trade between producers and suppliers of agriculture products. It provide an Internet-based trading hub for buyers and sellers of agriculture products to do business online.

Agribazaar hopes to enable retailers, wholesalers, collectors, traders, farmers, exporters and importers to interact with each other in order to achieve and fulfill their own goals while offering the same benefits to the people they do business with.

In short, Agribazaar aims to create future development in the agricultural sector through online transactions.

AgriBazaar Website

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Under DOA's Home Page, the next place which I think is very important for us who are involved with agriculture is the links to the various State Department of Agriculture.

Scroll down to the bottom right-hand corner of the page and you will find this image. Click on to the state you would like to go next.

State Department of Agriculture Links

Another way to go to the various state Department of Agriculture is listed under DOA Staff.

Click on to DOA Staff

Click DOA Staff and follow the link on "About DOA"

About DOA

Follow the link to the various state DOA offices.

State Department of Agriculture Links

One of the best state DOA websites is Perak State Department of Agriculture. It has a lot of downloadable information (in Bahasa Malaysia) on agriculture. You should visit it.