It is currently the durian season.

And it seems like the king of fruits are a well-loved commodity in the region too.

So much so that one farmer in Malaysia was reportedly having his fruits stolen.

To deal with this situation, he decided to execute an ingenious plan to keep durian thieves at bay.

Durian-protecting pocongs

61-year-old Rosman Budiman, a farmer in Segamat, Johor, set up two fake pocongs to prevent durian thieves on his farm, Harian Metro reported.

In Malay culture, a pocong is believed to be the soul of a dead person wrapped in its shroud.

Rosman told Harian Metro that he used some cardboard and two metres worth of white cloth to make the pocongs.

The two adult-sized pocongs, which are about 1.5 metres tall and weighs about 450 grams, are placed in a bushy area of his farm and nearby an empty hut.

Burns incense for scary atmosphere

To add to the eery atmosphere, he would burn gharuwood incense before returning home in the evening.

He said: "Sometimes when I go to collect the durians on my own, I would scare myself and get the chills because of the gharuwood scent."

In total, he spent just about RM8 (S$2.61) on the materials and gharuwood incense.

And it seems like his scare tactics have worked so far.

Rosman, who has 10 durian trees in his farm, said he has seen a decrease in durian losses this year.

"Before this, if I was late to pick up the durians, thieves will run away with my durians."

Used life-sized tiger dolls

This isn't the first time he has tried to prevent thieves on his farm.

During the last durian season, he spent RM350 (S$114.09) on two life-sized tiger dolls in an attempt to scare away the thieves.

Instead, the thieves allegedly got away with his durians and the two tiger dolls.

"It's ok if they steal the durians just to eat for themselves. However, the volume of durians that have been stolen shows that the thieves have stolen the durians to sell it themselves."

Top image from Harian Metro & Ah Seng Durians/ FB.