Malta and oranges are now being cultivated on commercial basis in many villages of Rajshahi. Cultivation of the citrus fruits is gaining popularity among the farmers. Many said that cultivation of the fruits will bring a revolution in economy of the villages.
Commercial cultivation of the citrus fruits has begun at Godagari, Paba, Mohanpur and Bagmara of the district recently. This year, these two fruits are expected to be produced well. The farmers who cultivate malta and orange are now more interested to cultivate those rather than other fruits and vegetables.
Alongside the malta and orange, the farmers are also cultivating lemon in the areas under the cooperation from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
According to the DAE office sources, these fruits have been cultivated in about 20 hectares of land in those upazilas since 2015. About 10,000 saplings are planted in the field. Local agriculture officials distributed the saplings to the farmers.
Watching those citrus fruit plants have a good yield. Farmers are hoping to produce those next year in more land. Farmers informed, there are Bari-1 malta and orange, striped malta, nappuri orange, clay lemon, colombo lemon and zara lemon. The orchards of Godagari, Palpur, Matikata and Bidirpur unions of Godagari upazila are seen to flowering with malta and oranges.
Farmers said in the next three to four months, the production of the fruits in the orchards would be suitable for harvesting. In order to purchase the goods, wholesale buyers from different parts of the country want to buy those with advance money and they want to buy it from the garden.
Shibir Ahmed Sarkar of Matikata and Sabin Murmu of Idulpur village said some lands of the villages are cultivated with Malta, Kamala, Gambuara and Leba. Earlier, they used to cultivate vegetable in the land. They are trying to cultivate these fruits in the hope of getting long-term yields and good profit with less labour.
They also informed field level officials of the upazila agricultural office encouraged them in cultivation of those citrus fruits. They have taken training from the agricultural office. Now, they are very optimistic about good yield of the fruits.
An official of upazila agriculture office in Godagari informed, the farmers are now being encouraged to cultivate malta and oranges, and they are happy with the production and price of the fruits.
Upazila Agriculture Officer in Godagari said Malta is produced twice a year. This is a profitable fruit.