Jahangir Hossain, Ishwardi
Cultivation of green malta is becoming popular in the country. Many farmers are making good profit by cultivating the citrus fruit.
Abdul Hadi, a young agricultural entrepreneur, has developed a garden of green malta at Goalbathan village of Muladuli area under Iswardi upazila in Pabna. People are coming from far and wide to see greenery in the garden as well as the garden of Bari 1 malta variety.
Abdul Hadi built this malta garden on his own 1 acre of land with prior consultation of Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Office. After visiting at the garden, this correspondent observed green maltas hanging in the trees in bulk. The height of each tree is 7-8 feet.
Abdul Hadi first started cultivating 200 malta saplings. At present, there are 1,500 green malta trees in his garden. It costs him about 7 lakh taka to build this garden for two and a half years. Abdul Hadi dedicated hours of his time to his malta garden. From this year the fruits have started to come.
He has also started selling malta in the market. He is selling wholesale at a cost of Taka 170 to Taka 180 per kg. The green malta is very sweet to eat. That is why the demand for this malta is increasing day by day.
Abdul Hadi said that he has built ‘Saima Multipurpose Farm’ in Goalbathan village. The farm contains of guava, fish and chicken. For two and a half years, he has built Bari-3 varieties of malta on this farm.
Last Thursday afternoon, Ishwardi UNO Ahmed Hossain Bhuiyan, Agriculture Officer Abdul Latif, OC Bahauddin Farooqi visited Abdul Hadi’s Malta garden. Upazila Information Services Officer Chhandra Biswas, Secondary Academic Supervisor Ariful Haque, Local UP Member Wasim Khan were also present there.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdul Latif said, "Abdul Hadi has developed the Bari-3 malta garden at Muldulli with our advice. The fruit has high demand because it is tasty and sweet.’’ He expressed a positive opinion that malta cultivation may have great potential in Ishwardi in the context of the weather. The villagers will put more efforts to expand malta farming in Ishwardi. People of all classes can eat this fruit at a low cost.
In reference to cultivation of malta, Ishwardi Police Station OC Bahauddin Faruqi said that Ishwardi is an agricultural-dependent area. Along with various crops and fruits, cultivation of green malta is a new addition to agriculture. As it does not require any kind of use of pesticides or formalin, malta is considered as one of the most nutritious fruit in the world.
UNO Ahmed Hossain Bhuiyan said, “I am overwhelmed. Abdul Hadi set the example by cultivating poison-free Bari-1 malta. This citrus fruit will meet most of the nutrients we need. He urged for overall cooperation of the Upazila administration for the cultivation of high-yielding fruit so that further expansion and cultivation of gardens in different areas of the upazila is possible.
