India: All eyes now on malta after orange farming success
To initiate an expansion of malta cultivation the DAE has selected three 10-decimal plots and planted 30 Bari Malta-1 trees, says Soumen Saha, the DAE additional director for Dinajpur region. The chosen malta strain was developed by the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute.
“The trees were planted nearly 20 days ago,” says Hemchandra Das, a successful orange orchardist participating in the trial, “and so far they are growing well. I hope all the malta trees mature and that fruit yield can exceed oranges.”
“If all goes well harvest should start within two years,” explains Arun Chandra Roy, the upazila agriculture officer in Birganj. “Trial malta groves are also being planted in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh,” he adds.
His colleague Dr. Abul Kalam Azad agrees that with the good results achieved from orange orchards over the past few years, the prospects for malta crops is promising. Due to its proximity to the Himalayas, the land in the greater Dinajpur region has long been considered ideal for citrus crops.
Local interest in the trial is already piqued by the previous success of oranges, given the similarity of the fruits. “If the trial proves successful,” says Das, “More and more people will be interested in farming malta in this and surrounding localities.”
The next step in farming's citrus revolution in farming, maltas have significant potential to further improve the regional economy.
Source: thedailystar.net
