Punjab agri dept to boost kharif maize cultivation for biofuel needs
BATHINDA : The Punjab agriculture department has mooted an ambitious farm diversification plan to boost cultivation of maize, the state’s traditional staple grain, as an industrial crop to be used as biofuel.
Under a plan for this year, the state authorities have set a target to cultivate kharif maize on a record 2 lakh hectares, an increase of about 106% as compared to last year, by replacing the water-guzzling paddy crop.
Agriculture department officials and experts at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) say that groundwork indicates that 18 ethanol plants in Punjab have a huge demand for maize as it is used in making the renewable fuel, which is blended with petrol.
State agriculture director Jaswant Singh said maize has an industrial value and more environment-friendly crop than paddy and acreage of maize will in enhanced every year.
Now, area under kharif maize, which is cultivated in May-June and harvested in September-October, would be encouraged in the catchment area of distilleries, he said.
“As per the plan, maize will be encouraged in a 45-50-km radius of the distilleries for convenient transportation. The government will provide in-kind incentives and details will be finalised by the month-end. We will encourage farmers growing non-basmati rice, cotton and summer moong to switch to kharif maize,” he added.
As per the official data, Punjab farmers cultivated maize on 97,000 hectares in 2023 whereas experts said that there is a potential to grow kharif maize on 5 lakh hectares.
“Besides paddy, another cause of concern for us is the popularity of spring maize which has seen an upward trend in the last 4-5 years. Maize sown in February-March is a highly water-intensive and there is an urgent need to push farmers for kharif maize,” said the director.
Experts said for the last almost a decade, the area under maize was around one-lakh hectares.
Jaswant Singh said Punjab’s average maize production is 5 lakh tonnes whereas the requirement of distilleries based in the state have an annual requirement of 35 lakh tonnes.
“Industry is buying more corn from other states and meeting their demands will prove economically beneficial for Punjab growers,” he added.
Principal maize breeder at PAU Surinder Kaur Sandhu said in 1974, maize was grown on 5 lakh hectares but over the years, the traditional crop area reduced drastically.
“Over the last few years, maize cultivation was used to silage, considered a superfood for cattle and as poultry feed. But now scope for the crop is felt tremendously after the distillery units have shown interest to buy the maize from farmers,” said Sandhu, who is a member of a state panel to boost cultivation of kharif maize.
Sandhu said expansion in the coming years would depend upon the assured purchase of maize by the industry.
The average yield of maize was 15 quintals per acre against the potential average of 24 quintals.
“The problem of low production can be curbed by providing quality seeds, identifying soil quality better for maize and other factors. Kharif maize is the best alternative to paddy as the former requires 4-5 irrigation cycles, a fraction of the water requirement to grow rice. Also, the organic waste of maize is digested easily by the soil effortlessly thus it further reduces the burden of crop straw management,” she added.
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