AP maize cultivation to increase

Officials from the Andhra Pradesh agriculture department have succeeded in their campaign to promote maize cultivation, with over 5.11 lakh hectares already been sown with the crop for the 2007-08 kharif season.

They are expected to cross normal kharif crop area of 5.21 lakh hectares and 2006-07 kharif crop area of 5.36 lakh hectares. Sowing operations would continue this month also.

The farmers could easily achieve the government fixed production target of 33.34 lakh tonnes for the current year. The target included 21.77 lakh tonnes for kharif and 11.57 lakh tonnes for rabi (second crop). In 2006-07, the farmers produced 26.04 lakh tonnes of maize. About 85 per cent of the state's maize crop is cultivated in kharif and the remaining in rabi (second crop). The government has spent Rs 31.87 crore to promote maize cultivation.

Farmers have been encouraged to rotate maize with groundnut, redgram and sunflower crops and intercrop the same with short duration crops such as pulses and oilseeds for better and sustainable yields.

Maize prices still hover around Rs 720 a quintal, which is Rs 103 more than what the state recommended to the Centre this year. Ever increasing demand from the domestic poultry industry for maize and low output costs have attracted farmers to take up maize cultivation.

Exporters too have increased their purchases to ship maize to Australia. Traders have stored huge quantities of maize, hoping to make a fast buck in the event of adverse market conditions.