Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | When makka sells cheaper than bhusa: Bihar’s maize growers suffer lockdown blues -Harish Damodaran

When makka sells cheaper than bhusa: Bihar’s maize growers suffer lockdown blues -Harish Damodaran

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Oct 30, 2020   modified Modified on Oct 30, 2020

-The Indian Express

Bihar produces a quarter of India's corn, but few politicians are talking about a crop that generates over Rs 7,500 crore annual income for its farmers.

Begusarai, Khagaria: “Makka hai das rupiah aur bhusa chaudah (maize is selling for Rs 10 and wheat straw for Rs 14)”. This statement by Chandrasekhar Kumar, a 15-bigha (13 acres) farmer from Sapaha village in Gogri block of Khagaria district, sums up the situation of Bihar’s most profitable, if not biggest, crop.

Kumar grows maize on 10, wheat on 3, mustard on 1, and fodder sorghum and barley on the remaining one bigha for his 10 buffaloes. The 45-year-old harvested 480 quintals of maize this May-June, more than last year’s 400 quintals. But the price he got from selling to a vyapari (village-level aggregator) was just Rs 950-1,000/quintal, as against Rs 1,700 the previous year.

Kumar is every inch a progressive farmer, as good as his counterparts in Punjab or Haryana. His corn yields, at 48 quintals per bigha or 55.2/acre, are even higher than the 200 bushel (50 quintals/acre) levels of farmers in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. He mainly plants corn hybrids of Bayer Crop Science – including its newly launched ‘DKC-9188’ that is claimed to have better plant strength and delivers more uniform cobs with shinier and higher percentage of grains – and also uses the German multinational’s ‘Gaucho’ (a seed treatment chemical) and ‘Laudis’ (a post-emergence herbicide to control weeds). Even in wheat, he sows DCM Shriram Ltd’s ‘Super 303’ that gives up to 23 quintals/acre, compared to the 16-17 quintals from normal publicly-bred varieties.

Please click here to read more.


The Indian Express, 30 October, 2020, https://indianexpress.com/elections/when-makka-cheaper-than-bhusa-lockdown-effect-on-states-biggest-crop-6909201/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close