The Hindu : Maize cultivation to be introduced in Kancheepuram

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 06, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Others

Maize cultivation to be introduced in Kancheepuram

By Our Staff Reporter

KANCHEEPURAM, FEB. 5. For the first time, maize as an alternative crop will be cultivated on about 1,000 hectares in the well-irrigated paddy area in Kancheepuram district during Navarai (January to April) said R. Sethuraman, Joint Director of Agriculture, Kancheepuram, today.

Talking to The Hindu after holding a meeting with department officials here, Mr. Sethuraman said farmers were asked to cultivate maize as an alternative crop wherever they could not raise paddy for want of water. Water requirement for maize would be only one-third of what was needed for paddy.

He said the shortfall area was now being covered with groundnut and vegetables and the Agriculture department decided to introduce maize this year. Farmers could get a minimum yield of two tonnes a hectare.

Farmers decided to raise maize under contract farming and the produce would be procured by buyers directly. Out of the total requirement of 2,500 tonnes of maize, mainly used as poultry feed, only 50 per cent was being produced in Tamil Nadu and the rest was being procured from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other places.

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