The cultivation of citrus fruit, particularly Malta, has been increasing in various parts of the country, including Naogaon and Thakurgaon.
It was known that cultivation of blood orange which is known as Malta has been increasing at Manda upazila in Naogaon.
Officials at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said that repeated plenteous production, good demand and fair market price encouraged the farmers to expand the farming of the citrus fruit at the upazila.
The DAE officials also said that production of quality malta is possible in the district. If the cultivators follow the proper production procedures they would get a good yield of the vitamin-C enriched fruit, they added.
Recently Nurulabad-Kalikapur and Bharsho-Tentulia union land offices have taken a pilot project for growing malta. Horticulture centre in Bodolgachhi supplied the saplings for the orchards.
Deputy Director of DAE Monojit Kumar Mallik said that soil and weather of Naogaon district is good for growing quality malta. Growers should grow the item on commercial basis.
The department provides logistic support in this regard with increasing the cultivation of malta in the district, the official added.
Meanwhile, the government has taken a project to cultivate citrus fruits, such as orange, blood orange (known as malta), local lemon, jara and Colombo lemon, to meet the Vitamin C demand among the population as well as to export them abroad.
The DAE has adopted a Tk. 126.43 project—‘Extend cultivation and management the citrus fruits’—to grow the fruits in 123 upazilas under 30 of the country’s 64 districts, agriculture ministry sources said.
The agriculture ministry will implement the project. The citrus fruits would be cultivated in the 30 districts—Gazipur, Tangail, Narshingdi, Mymensing, Sherpur, Netrokona, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Feni, Khagrachari, Rangamati, Bandarbans, Panchagarh, Thankotgaon, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Kurigram, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Rajshahi, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Bogura, Jaipurhat, Barishal, Pirojpur and Jhalokati.
In the proposal, the DAE says that some hilly districts like Sylhet, Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarbans are cultivating citrus fruits as their soil is suitable for such fruits.
According to the DAE, over 1,00,000 metric tonnes of orange and malta are being imported annually to meet the domestic demand.
