Maize Output Stagnant At 10m Tonne For A Decade

Domestic maize production has remained stagnant at 10 million tonne for more than a decade despite having more than 300 end products to its credit and its use in a variety of industries.

According to S L Chopra, secretary general, Indian Maize Development Association (Imda), the per hectare yield of maize is also stagnant at around 1.5 tonne, and looking at the projected demand of 20 million tonne by the year 2001, India might have to import maize to bridge the gap.

He said productivity should be doubled to about three tonne per hectare to meet the projected demand by year 2001. The target can be achieved with increased availability of high yield variety (HYV) seeds, better farm management and reworking of trade policies, Chopra added.

At present, only 18 per cent of total cultivated area is under HYV seeds. If the remaining area is also brought under its cultivation, the country would produce sufficient quantity for domestic consumption and also earn valuable foreign exchange through exports,he said.

Chopra said the WTO agreement had necessitated a rethinking on the import-export policies of agricultural produces. This rethinking is necessary, especially in the case of maize which is the basic raw material for a range of food and agro-based industries yielding products for immediate human consumption, he added.

According to Imda, direct human consumption of maize accounted for 35 per cent of total domestic requirement, followed by animal and poultry feed at 25 per cent each, and the rest by food processing and other industries.

Maize corn is being increasingly used in preparing value added foods like corn starch, dextrose, corn syrup and corn oil. Maize derivatives are also used in the manufacture of antibiotics, aspirins, carriers of vitamins and intravenous injections.