Malta grows in plenty

26 October 2009, 17:00 PM

Jasim Majumder, Khagrachhari

Successful production of a special variety of malta, developed by Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute in Khagrachhari, bears bright prospect for farmers in the hill area.Photo: STAR

Six years after starting malta (sweet orange) plantation in the hill district, the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) is expecting a bumber harvest this year with local farmers showing interest in growing the juicy fruit. BARI officials here expressed the hope that this year's malta harvests from about 2,000 trees on its own premises and three of its demonstration sites would fetch Tk 25 lakh. A good harvest of Malta-1, the variety developed by the BARI scientists, at its demonstration sites has generated much enthusiasm among the local farmers and at least 2,000 farmers in Khagrachhari this year collected over 5,000 malta plants from BARI, said officials. Malta-1, initiated here in 2003, has great potentials in hilltops, hill slopes and hill valley in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), sources said. Dr Mohammad Abdur Rouf, Senior Scientific Officer of BARI, Khagrachhari said they have about 1,000 malta trees in the Institute's own orchard while about a thousand more in three demonstration sites in Panchhari, Matiranga and Mohalchhari upazilas in the district. This year, he said, they are getting 400 to 500 maltas from each of the trees and they are expecting to earn Tk 25 lakh by selling maltas grown in 2,000 trees. Chandra Kanta Das, Scientific Officer (Entomology) said cultivating malta is very easy and simple as it is generally free from attack by any deadly diseases or dangerous pests. Sometimes, it is affected by leaf miner, lemon butterfly, fruit fly and by citrus bug or black spot disease, he said adding that if the farmers use scientific method of malta cultivation and take necessary precautions nothing can cause any major damage to the fruit output. Deputy director (DD) of District Agriculture Extension (DAE) office Mohammad Abdul Malek said there is over 3 lakh acres of barren hill lands in Khagrachhari district and government can take a plan to use this land for malta cultivation. The soil of Chittagong Hill Tracts is very fertile and suitable for production quality of malta, said Malek adding that if half of barren hills are brought under malta cultivation then exportable surplus can be produced after meeting the domestic demand. Dr Md Mohabbat Ullah, Chief Scientific Officer of BARI, Khagrachhari said considering hilltop, hill valley and hill slopes and weather of this region BARI initiated Malta-1 variety. Malta cultivation is possible in both drought and rainy weather but malta trees cannot withstand waterlogging for long, he said. At least 5,000 farmers sought assistant from BARI for malta cultivation after observing bumper production of Malta in current year. In response, BARI distributed 5,000 malta plants to around 2,000 farmers to encourage the locals in malta cultivation. BARI officials in Khagrachhari said, malta helps people to fulfill the demand of Vitamin-C. Its important for each adult is to take 30 mg Vitamin-C per day. Juice, jam, jelly and marmalade can also be prepared from malta, they said.