Malta, a citrus fruit known as a hill crop, is now being grown on the plains too. Farhaduzzaman Fahim, a student at Rajshahi University, has found success with an orchard of about 1,000 malta trees on three acres in the Jorabari area of Domar upazila in Nilphamari. Four years after starting commercial cultivation, he has had a bumper harvest this year. His success as a farm entrepreneur while still a student has drawn wide interest in the area.
Fahim studies public administration at Rajshahi University. Four years ago he took up commercial malta farming on flat land. His three-acre orchard now has about 1,000 trees of the BARI-1 variety, brought from Sylhet, and every tree is laden with clusters of fruit. After long care and hard work, the whole orchard has given the yield he hoped for.
Because the fruit tastes good and is of high quality, demand is growing. Traders come from different areas to buy at the orchard, visitors come every day to see this unusual garden in a remote village, and it has created work for several local people.
Local visitors and buyers praise the venture. They say malta farming on the plains has opened new possibilities for agriculture in the area, and buyers benefit from being able to buy locally grown fruit.
Fahim said he started growing malta out of a dream of becoming an entrepreneur rather than chasing a job. He wants to encourage unemployed young people to take up farm-based ventures and to bring safe, good-quality fruit to people. He said malta worth several lakh taka had been sold from his orchard this season.
He said he began the venture from a wish to do something of his own while still a student. There were many challenges at first, but the orchard has gradually become a success, and he wants to take it further.
The upazila agriculture department visits the orchard and advises him on tree care, pest and disease management and raising output. Fahim contacts agriculture officers whenever he faces a problem.
Domar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Rafiqul Islam said the orchard is being monitored by the agriculture department, which is giving Fahim the advice he needs and has asked him to report any problems.
Fahim’s success shows that new possibilities in farming need initiative, hard work and proper planning. If more young people like him come forward as farm entrepreneurs, it will create jobs and help the country’s fruit production.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report