Maize makes an entry in Tiruvallur district; farmers happy with crop
'I always had an interest in growing different crops. I even tried sugarcane, but did not send it to the sugar mill but made jaggery out of it. The crop did well, but harvesting costs were rather high so I came back to paddy. This time, the seeds for this Makka Cholam (maize) was given to us for free of cost and for 30 cents of land I am getting an income of ₹15,000 after having spent ₹2,000, which is a big gain. In the case of paddy, I would have spent over ₹7,000 and earned just ₹6,000 if the harvest were good,' said G. Vijayan of Sathya Kaala Varadhachariar Kandigai. He had also fed his cows with the leaves from the maize plants and saw an increase of 200 ml to 300 ml of milk per day after that.
Gajendran, a farmer from Iluppur in Tiruvalangadu block, said he usually plants vegetables or paddy but this time he chose to go for maize and spent less water and less labour on the crop. 'Unseasonal rains have delayed the harvest by a couple of weeks. Though I have had two pest attacks, I managed them by spraying insecticides. But I am happy with the growth so far.'
Tiruvallur Collector M. Prathap said the idea behind introducing maize among farmers was to ensure a sizeable income in their hands so that they can invest this money back into mechanised farming. 'This is especially important due to the vagaries of the monsoon. They have cattle and the leaves and green wastes can be used to feed the cows, which will increase milk production. We want to have more integrated farms,' he said.
Sources in the Agriculture Department said that the MH 6 variety of seeds had been provided from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to the farmers. The farmers are selling their produce to a private company near Uthukottai that manufactures ethanol. Since the Government of India has announced a minimum support price for maize, the farmers will get a good price, they explained.
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