Currently, the market rate of maize is good and farmers are selling the dry crop, which meets the specified moisture limit in the grain, at a rate of Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,100 per quintal, while maize with high moisture level is getting Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,400 per quintal. (Express photo)Spring/summer season maize growers in the state are happy as they are fetching good rates for their crop, which is being sold around the MSP rate, in the market currently. But even this good rate of the crop is not enough to encourage the state’s farmers to increase the area under kharif maize, one of the major alternatives for the water-guzzling paddy in Punjab, the sowing of which starts in June along with paddy and ends by mid-July. Till June 27, the maize was sown only on 33,000 hectares (81,543 acres), which was almost half of the last year in the same corresponding period when 60,000 hectares (1.48 lakh acres) were brought under the crop by June 27, 2021.
This year the Department of Agriculture has fixed the target of bringing 1.60 lakh hectares (3.95 lakh acres) under kharif maize. During the last kharif season a total of 1.05 lakh hectares (2.59 lakh acres) could be brought under the crop against the target of 1.50 lakh hectares (3.70 lakh acres).
Currently, the market rate of maize is good and farmers are selling the dry crop, which meets the specified moisture limit in the grain, at a rate of Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,100 per quintal, while maize with high moisture level is getting Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,400 per quintal.
In Punjab, maize is sown during two seasons – one during the spring/summer season and the other during the kharif season. Spring season maize is sown from mid-February to March-end, while harvesting starts in June and ends by mid-July. Kharif season maize is sown in June along with paddy crop and harvested during October. Kharif season maize is considered a major maize crop and alternative to paddy.
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Why despite the Centre and Punjab government’s fervent push for crop diversification, the area under kharif maize is not increasing?
Maize is not procured by the government at MSP. The government only announced its MSP and does not control its market rate. Its rate fluctuates as per the demand and farmers may or may not fetch a good price. Unlike summer season varieties of maize which are hybrid quality and give 40 quintals (dry) to 60 quintals (with high moisture) yield per acre, kharif season maize varieties give around 20-21 quintals (dry) and nearly 35-36 quintals (with high moisture) yield per acre. The rate of maize with high moisture is 30% to 40% less than the dry one.
Moreover, in kharif season, farmers already have paddy as an assured marketing crop. In Punjab, there are two assured marketing crops, which are purchased by the government, including paddy in kharif season and wheat in rabi season (November to April). The spring season crop is a third crop, which the farmers are getting in a year to enhance their incomes.
Why paddy is preferred over maize in kharif season?
Paddy’s average yield per acre is around 30 quintals which are 6 to 10 quintals more than kharif maize. Paddy is an assured crop and its MSP is Rs 2,040 per quintal. Maize’s price depends on the market situation, its MSP is Rs 1,962 per quintal which is less than paddy’s MSP. From paddy fields farmers will sell around Rs 61,000 crops per acre, from maize fields they will sell Rs 41, 000 to Rs 47,000 crops per acre if it is sold at MSP, which is quite unlikely most of the time. There is a difference of Rs 13,000 and Rs 18,000 per acre and distressed farmers would not prefer to bear this loss. “Also, the input cost of maize is between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 per acre, while the input cost of paddy is between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000 per acre,” said maize grower Paramvir Singh from Nakodar.
How the area under the kharif season crop can be increased?
Experts said that it can be increased only when kharif season maize varieties’ yield and MSP are on a par with paddy or more than paddy. Also area under it can go up if the government supports the farmers during those years when the maize is sold below the MSP by paying the difference between which the farmers sold the crop and the MSP of maize. Bharti Kisan Union (Dakaunda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh said that the government can promote diversification by diverting the area from paddy to maize either by paying the difference between MSP and market rate (if below) or by procuring the crop itself at MSP.
Punjab’s maize area has been around 1.05 lakh hectares to 1.23 lakh hectares for the past 5-6 years. According to Department of Agriculture records, maize area was 1.16 lakh hectares (lh) in 2016-17, 1.23 lh in 2017-18, 1.15 lh in 2018-19, 1.07 lh in 2019-20, 1.09 lh in 2020-21, and 1.05 lh in 2021-22. Agriculture experts said that without an assured market, diversification is a herculean task in the state. They said that only some progressive farmers are opting for it by choice, otherwise it is being grown only on those land which is suitable only for this crop and not for other crops.
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