Unable to get a job after graduating, Amalesh started growing malta on his paternal land after cutting down betel nut and coconut trees there.

Amalesh Roy, 52, said his cousin told him that cultivating malta is very profitable. He said he went to many places of the country to gather knowledge about malta fruit farming before he started the trade in 2008.

Amalesh said he started getting malta after three years. “The fruits are very sweet and tasty,” he said, adding that there is a great demand for his produce in the local market. 

After seeing the success of Amalesh, farmers of adjacent areas have also become interested in cultivating malta.

He said he grows malta plants through grafting system, and farmers from nearby areas buy them from him.

Officials from different agricultural departments as well as curious people from many areas of the country visit his malta orchard often.

Now there are 450 malta trees of Bari-1 variety at his orchard, and the trees are full of ripe maltas now.

Malta cultivation is more profitable than cultivation of any other crop, Amalesh said, adding that a grower can recover his production cost within a short time.

Farmer Probhas Roy said at first he did not know that malta cultivation was so profitable and that it could be grown in their area. He was inspired by Amalesh, Probhas said, adding that he has an orchard with 100 malta trees and has a plan to expand it.

Amalesh is now well-known to Pirojpur townspeople as well as agricultural officials as his malta orchard has given him an identity.

Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Hasan Warisul Kabir said Amalesh is the pioneer of malta cultivation in Pirojpur . Now more and more farmers are becoming interested in malta cultivation.

“We give all types of technical support to the fruit growers to inspire more people to cultivate malta and other fruit,” Kabir said. Malta is sold at Tk 140 per kg in the local market, he said.

Deputy Director (DD) of Pirojpur Department of Agriculture Extension Md Abul Hossain Talukder said there are 154 malta orchards in the district on 34.66 hectares of land.

“Malta fruit cultivation is spreading rapidly in Pirojpur. There were only three or four malta orchards five years ago,” Talukder said, adding that the people in Pirojpur are also growing malta plants as a hobby.