24th September 2023, Karnal
ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana, CIMMYT, and ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal with support from CCSHAU, Hisar, and State Department of Agriculture, Government of Haryana, organised a State level maize day today.
The Chief Guest, Dr. DK Yadava, Assistant Director General (Seed), urged farmers to grow maize to save natural resources and enhance farm profitability. He stressed maize-mustard-mungbean system could bring farm profitability with enhanced nutritional security and soil health. Dr. Yadava discussed that the availability of quality seeds of public sector hybrids is increasing which is affordable. He also stressed to think seriously and grow alternative crops to rice in this ecology to address the water problem. Dr. Yadav highlighted the importance of biofortified maize having high lysine, tryptophan, and provitamin A for food and nutritional security.
Dr. HS Jat, Director, ICAR-IIMR, highlighted the urgent need for maize production enhancement to improve availability for ethanol production, citing remunerative market prices as a challenge that can be addressed through policy intervention.
Dr. RK Yadav, Director, ICAR-CSSRI, emphasized that sustainable soil resources can be assured with a maize-based system.
Dr. Mahesh Gathala, Principal Scientist, CIMMYT, highlighted strategies to mitigate groundwater exploitation, including conservation agriculture and crop diversification.
Dr. Aditya Dabas, DDA, Karnal, urged not to burn crop residue in the upcoming season and urged farmers to avail of benefits provided by the government for not doing so.
Farmers in this region are concerned about assured marketing and remunerative prices for maize but believe the technology available on the ICAR-CIMMYT platform could be a good rice replacement. They believe handholding farmers on best management practices and the entire ecosystem, including input, machinery, and procurement availability, is crucial for upscaling maize.
The government has set a pace to meet the demand for over 14 million tonnes of maize for ethanol production by 2025-26, aiming to meet 20% ethanol blending in petrol. However, maize production is insufficient due to its current use in feed, starch, and value-addition industries.
The program was attended by 380 farmers from various districts of Haryana and Punjab, it included 60 female farmers.
(Source: ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana)
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