Maize will be purchased by Markfed as industrial crop in Punjab

12-Aug-2024 05:41 PM

Chandigarh. During the current Kharif season, the area under maize cultivation in Punjab has jumped to 1.23 lakh hectares, which is the highest in the last eight years.

The Punjab government may assign the responsibility of purchasing maize from farmers as an industrial crop to its authorized leading cooperative agency-Markfed.

There are 18 ethanol manufacturing plants in Punjab, which have a huge demand for maize. Maize purchased by Markfed can make an important contribution in fulfilling this demand.

In the last Kharif season, the area under maize cultivation in Punjab was limited to 94 thousand hectares.

For the current season, its target was increased by 30 percent, but the actual area could reach only 55 percent.

According to official sources, this time the area in the state has reached 1.23 lakh hectares, which also includes the cultivation of maize used as fodder.

The field stock of the Agriculture Department encouraged farmers to give preference to maize cultivation instead of paddy, in which it got some success.

According to the Agriculture Director, this year the area under maize cultivation remained behind the target but increased by 30 percent from last year.

The Central Government has assured through a notification that the price of maize will be increased by Rs 2225.

The Central Government has assured through a notification that maize will be purchased from farmers at a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2225 per quintal and the ethanol industry also wants its supply.

The experience of the current year will prove helpful in accelerating the pace of crop diversification in the coming year. Markfed can be entrusted with the responsibility of purchasing maize from farmers at MSP.

The state government is going to take a decision in this regard soon. Harvesting of the new crop of early sown maize will start from mid-September and may continue till mid-October.