A quiet revolution is taking place in malta farming in Bangladesh, and imports of foreign malta are slowly falling. With proper branding of the local variety, fruit production could rise to meet nutritional needs while saving large amounts of foreign currency, and with the right plans, technology, processing and marketing, Bangladesh could one day move from importer to exporter.

Md Rasel Sarkar, agriculture extension officer in Taraganj, Rangpur, said BARI Malta-1 was developed in 2004 at the Hill Agricultural Research Station in Khagrachhari. Besides the three hill districts and Sylhet, malta is now grown in the south, the Barind, the north and almost the whole country. Trees flower and fruit within one to two years of planting and can give full yields for 20 to 25 years. Commercial orchards of all sizes have been set up and should reach full production in two to three years.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has a five-year project, ending in 2023, to expand citrus (malta, orange, lemon) in 123 upazilas of 30 districts, setting up 59,100 orchards and managing about 5,000 old ones. It aims to raise malta and orange output by 15 to 20 per cent, about 40,000 tonnes, saving over 4 billion taka. In 2019-20, Bangladesh produced 40,317 tonnes of orange and 28,041 tonnes of malta; orange output grows 5 per cent a year and malta 10 to 15 per cent.

Local fruit meets only 35 per cent of demand. Six fruits (apple, orange, malta, grape, pomegranate, pear) are imported most, and 85 per cent of imports are apple, orange, malta and grape. According to IndexMundi, Bangladesh is fifth in the world in malta imports. Imports of apple, orange, malta and grape cost 9.46 billion taka in 2012-13 and 18.02 billion in 2018-19. In 2017-18 malta and orange imports alone were 117,170 tonnes, costing about 10.88 billion taka. Through Chattogram port, fruit imports reached 616,000 tonnes in 2019-20, 77 per cent apples and malta.

Local malta stays yellowish-green when ripe; many believe foreign fruit is more nutritious; malta does not ripen after picking, and early harvesting for high prices gives poor taste; and consumers know little about local malta's nutrition and taste.

He recommends research on storage and bright-orange early and late varieties; more seedlings at government horticulture centres and private nurseries; planting malta at homesteads; higher duty on imported malta; awareness at fairs, field days and in the media; success stories of growers; awards for the best fruit growers; and better post-harvest handling, processing, storage and training.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.