"This was due to higher demand from China for good quality Myanmar bananas produced from local tissue culture, which offset a decline in exports of other fruits like watermelons and cucumbers. In fact, if it wasn't for COVID-19, Myanmar could have enjoyed a net increase in fruit export revenues this year if proper storage facilities had been available at the Myanmar-China border to store fruits while traders waited to clear longer procedures and other delays due to the pandemic. "Our fruit export income would have increased by a lot more if we had a better system to manage wastage at the border. Currently, about 80 percent of locally produced fruit has gone to waste as a result of disruptions from COVID-19," said Daw Sandar Myo, secretary of the association. Fruits are mainly exported to China at the border. Before COVID-19, watermelons and cucumbers were the main fruit exports and revenue had been on the rise each year due to increasing demand. This year, the decline in exports of watermelons and cucumbers was offset by a surge in demand for bananas at the start of the year, said U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant secretary of the Ministry of Commerce..."