The farming of malta (sweet orange), a juicy citrus fruit enriched with vitamin C, is gaining popularity among famers in Brahmanbaria district as it yields good profit.
The malta farming in the district began in 2013-14 fiscal year under a Citrus Development Project, said sources at the local office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Since then, over 200 large and 2,000 family orchards of malta have been set up in Bijoynagar, Kasba and Akhaura upazilas of the districts.
Malta was cultivated on 700 bighas of land this season and the number of farmers cultivating this juicy fruit is increasing day by day as they attain good yields and profit, the sources said.
The local DAE office expects a production of 135 tonnes of malta in the district in the current season which will save Tk 150 million in import bill due to lower quantity of its import from foreign sources.
DAE Deputy Director M Abu Naser said farmers are cultivating BARI-1 variety of malta developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
He said this variety of malta is very tasty and better than the imported one, UNB reported.
"Farmers get good yields within 2-3 years from sowing the plant," he said, adding that they were providing training and technical support to farmers in this regard.
Farmers said it will be possible to export the citrus food after meeting local demand if there is necessary government assistance.