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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'A-maizing' progress by Surinder Sud

'A-maizing' progress by Surinder Sud

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published Published on Jul 26, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 26, 2011

Breakthroughs in the production and productivity of wheat and rice in the sixties and of cotton recently have been much appreciated, but similar advances in maize have gone largely unnoticed and unsung. Maize output has soared in the past 10 years from a mere 12 million tonnes in 2000-01 to over 21 million tonnes in 2010-11. This increase can largely be attributed to a surge in crop productivity rather than higher acreage. Also, the technological triggers for this growth have come from public sector research, though seed production of new maize strains has remained mostly a private sector monopoly.

Maize has acquired a special significance in the farm economy because of its multiple uses as food, feed and industrial raw material. Around one-fourth of the maize grain harvest is consumed as food. A larger part, nearly 50 per cent, gets used as animal feed, mostly poultry feed. This demand is growing rather rapidly due to the poultry industry’s fast growth. The rest is used for producing starch and other industrial products. The crop’s biomass (leaves and stalks) is used as nutritious fodder for cattle.

An equally noteworthy feature of the maize revolution is that it is not based on any single parameter, such as high-yielding fertiliser-responsive dwarf varieties in the case of wheat and rice and gene-altered Bt-hybrids in cotton. The growth drivers in this case include the development of high-yielding and better quality single cross hybrids; yield-enhanced cultivars of specialty maize types like baby corn, sweet corn, waxy corn and high oil-bearing maize; and, most importantly, evolution of protein-enriched maize for manufacturing maize-based high-protein products. These developments have added to the utility of maize that will ensure a demand-driven sustained growth in production.

The New Delhi-based Directorate of Maize Research (DMR) reckons the requirement of maize to soar to 42 million tonnes by 2025. This would call for the need to double maize production from the present 21 million tonnes.

DMR Director R Sai Kumar is confident that the demand will be met thanks to the recent initiatives taken to promote new technologies and evolve plant types that are capable of withstanding pests, diseases and adverse impacts of climate change.

The single cross hybrids (first generation seeds derived by crossbreeding two desirable but distinctly different parents) are being promoted aggressively by DMR since the mid-noughties because of the advantages they offer. For one, these hybrids bear cobs of uniform size, shape, colour and quality that are preferred in the export market. Besides, these are highly productive and can adapt to different agro-climatic conditions, facilitating maize farming even in winter.

As a result, these hybrids have already made significant inroads into several parts of the country, especially in areas that face droughts, diminishing water resources and weather-related constraints.

Quick maturing single cross hybrids, which are drought-resistant, are becoming popular in Rajasthan. In many areas of Andhra Pradesh, where the water table is rapidly receding due to intensive rice cultivation, single cross hybrids have become a handy replacement for paddy in winter.

“With single cross hybrids, maize production has become more lucrative than several other traditionally grown crops in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir. Farmers are, therefore, switching over to maize cultivation. In eastern states, rabi maize cultivation has helped double maize production,” says Sai Kumar.

Likewise, the cultivation of new hybrids of baby corn and other specialty corn is fast gaining ground in areas around big towns to cater to growing demand from hotels and discerning consumers. Such corn also has good export demand and growers are happy with the premium prices that they get for it.

The protein-enhanced maize, technically called “quality protein maize” or QPM, has the opague-2 mutant gene incorporated into them to boost their content of lysine and tryptophan — the two key forms of protein lacking in ordinary maize. Such maize has the potential to alleviate protein malnutrition. This is now being produced by farmers for manufacturers of protein-rich maize biscuits, corn chips and other nutritious products.

Though DMR, along with the Indian Maize Development Association, is encouraging the production of new maize hybrid seeds through public-private participation, more effort is needed to augment seed availability to expand modern maize farming.

The Business Standard, 26 July, 2011, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/surinder-sud-a-maizing-progress/443811/


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