Desk Report: Bijoynagar is an upazila of Brahmanbaria bordering India, known as an agriculture-dependent upazila in the whole district. Most of the people of Bijoynagar depend on agriculture, reports Asian Age.
Litchis produced here have fame at home and abroad for deliciousness and juiciness. Jackfruits are produced abundantly in the upazila.
Besides litchis and jackfruits, at present malta farming has become popular in Bijoynagar. Farmers in the area are getting interested in farming malta, a small and highly colored orange variety, generally thought to have originated in Italy. It also is grown extensively in southern Spain and Malta.
Upazila agriculture office sources said, malta farming has started in 62 orchards on 50 hectares of land in different areas of Paharpur, Harashpur, Bishnupur, Singarbil, Potton, Adampur, Sreepur, Mukundapur villages of the upazila since 2015.
Farmers are given malta saplings, fertilizers and pesticides for free from the Citrus Development Project. They are also imparted training on malta cultivation.
During a visit to different malta orchards in Bijoynagar, The Asian Age Correspondent found malta trees full with fruits. Md Niaz Mia, a malta farmer, said he has planted some 250 malta trees on 30 decimal land.
He cultivated pineapples, jackfruits and bamboos on this land earlier. As these couldn’t yield expected profit, he has been farming malta for two years.
Another malta cultivator Alam Hossain said, I have started framing malta on my paddy field with advices from the upazila agriculture office. Hopefully, it will be profitable.
Malta farmers said 15-20 thousand taka will be spent for farming malta on each bigha land. If everything goes in smooth manner, 25-30 thousand taka will come from sale of malta. 4-5 hour labor per week in malta orchards is enough.
About malta farming, upazila deputy assistant agriculture officer Ashraful Alam said, citrus fruits such as lemon, orange and Malta farming started since 2015 under the Citrus Development Project of the Department of Agriculture Extension.
We have provided saplings, fertilizers, pesticides, spray machines to farmers for free. We have also provided training to them. Malta yield this year is good. Hopefully, malta worth Tk 50-60 thousand can be sold from each garden.