ZCZC
BSS-03
MALTA-FARMING-SUCCESS (with picture)
Malta farming becomes boon for Rajshahi farmers
RAJSHAHI, Aug 16, 2018 (BSS)-Many farmers in the region
have become successful in malta farming by dint of its
lucrative market price for the last couple of years.
Cultivation of the citrus fruit is gaining popularity
in the region, including its vast Barind tract, with the
help of the local agricultural offices.
Hundreds of people from ultra-poor families have
attained self-reliance by cultivating malta.
SM Mustafizur Rahman, additional director of the
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said malta
cultivation began in the area in 2013 and till now the
fruit is being cultivated on more than 50 hectares of
land. Growers are making a good profit from it, he
added.
Abdul Matin, a farmer of Gofanagar village under
Mohadevpur upazila in Naogaon district, has set an
instance of becoming successful through malta farming in
the area.
After getting technical support from local
horticulture centre, Abdul Matin initiated the malta
farming on August 10, 2016. Already, he has started
getting fruit.
Now, there are 65 malta and five orange trees in his
orchard. Apart from, he has five lemon, seven papaya,
two litchi and three coconut trees as intercropping. On
the vacant lands, he has been cultivating turmeric and
arum to get additional profit.
Agriculturist Rahman said there are malta orchards on
more than 200 bigha of lands in Godagari, Tanore,
Nachole and Gomostapur upazilas and Chapainawabganj
Sadar upazila.
DAE officials encouraged farmers for cultivating
malta as the climate and soil of the region are suitable
for the fruit.
A grower of Jhilim area in Chapainawabganj, Motiur
harvested 850 pieces of malta last year, which he sold
for Tk 17,500.
The locally-produced maltas are of a bright yellow
colour, large and very sweet, which appealed to
customers. “Customers buy my maltas directly,” explains
Motiur adding, “I cannot satisfy their demand.”
In such circumstances, he extended the orchard last year
to cover an additional six bighas, with six hundred more
saplings. “I count on one to two hundred maltas per
tree,” he said, estimating this year’s harvest.
He said, “About 15,000 maltas will be produced in this
orchard.”
He also makes a good income from sapling production.
Each of the saplings is being sold between Tk 250 and Tk
400. He has invested Tk 8 lakh and is expecting to earn
Tk 20 lakh through malta and sapling sales.
Motiur estimates a further 10,000 saplings will be
ready for sale within two months. Last year, the farmers
sold the cash crop at Taka 20 to 30 per piece. Being
inspired by the success, Moslem Ali, a farmer of Lalpur
village under Tanore Upazla, has started malta farming
on one and a half bighas of land.
“I am planting malta orchards on my four bighas at
Babudaying in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila and on my
sixty bighas in Gomostapur upazila,” said amateur farmer
Mahbubur Rahman, who sees value in following Motiur’s
lead.
In total, 150 bighas in the district are being
transformed into malta orchards.
Dr Abdul Alim, Principal Scientific Officer of Fruit
Research Station, said farmers can harvest more than 100
fruits from every plant per season. Sweetness of locally
produced malta is nine times more than those imported
from China, India and Pakistan, he said.
Each hali (four pieces) of the fruit is being sold at
Tk 120 to Tk 130 in the retail market while the
wholesale price is Tk 90 to Tk 100, the grower added.
Dr Alim said farmers have shown more interest in growing
malta on a large scale in their cropland instead of
common fruit as the farming is easier than other fruits.
The plants are not affected with fungus easily, he
added.
“The region’s soil is actually favourable for malta
cultivation,” says Dr Alim. He said it is possible to
produce especially sweet and high quality malta here.
“I have a five-year plant that yielded 90 fruits on an
average during last three years,” said Harun Or Rashid,
another grower of Kachua village under the same upazila.
He said farming of sweet malta was a dream of farmers in
the dried region. The dream has now been translated into
reality with help of modern agriculture technology.
The red, hard and dry Barind Tract soils offer challenge
to even seasoned farmers. Maltas have no tradition of
being grown there. Nonetheless, Harun Or Rashid thought
to give them a try. Eco-friendly fruit bags are being
used to protect the fruits from insects and fungal
spotting.
Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA), the
ever-largest irrigation proving public entity in the
region, has been motivating the farmers towards
promoting fruit farming including malta, said Dr Akram
Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of BMDA.
He said the initiative will help promoting a greenery
area together with lessening gradually mounting pressure
on underground water.
BSS/SPL/AH/AKM 1134hrs