Maize is the third most-grown grain. Now in the changing times, its importance has increased further, because it is not only used for human consumption and is the life of the poultry industry, but now it is also emerging very fast as an energy crop. Because it is being used to make ethanol. Which is being mixed with petrol, so that the import of petroleum in the country is reduced and the food producers benefit. Farmers should become energy providers along with being food producers. But the problem is that its production is not as much as is needed for food and feed and fuel. In such a situation, there is a need for adequate production.
For this, the central government has started a project called "Enhancement of Maize Production in the Catchment Area of Ethanol Industries". The responsibility of which has been given to the Indian Maize Research Institute (IIMR) under ICAR. Maize production will be increased under this. In this campaign, work will be done by taking FPO, farmers, distillery and seed industry together. Under this, seeds of high-yielding varieties are currently being distributed to farmers. 3000 kg of seeds of DHM-117 and DHM-121 varieties have been distributed so far in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. SL Jat, Senior Maize Scientist of IIMR, who is leading this project, gave information about this project. He told that under this project, 15 clusters have been formed in 15 states across India. Under this, 78 districts have been included, where a campaign to increase the production of maize will be run. These 15 states include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Haryana.
Under this, maize is to be sown in 1500 acres. Out of which a target of 1140 acres has been set in Kharif 2024 season. Advanced seeds are being distributed for this in all the concerned districts. Till now, along with DHM 117, DHM 121, DMRH 1308, seeds of companies like Corteva, Bioseed, Bayer have also been included.
Dr Hanuman Sahay Jat, Director, Indian Maize Research Institute, said that the government wants to produce more ethanol. For this, more production of maize is needed. The central government has set a target of 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26. Ethanol is produced mainly from sugarcane, maize and harvested rice. But sugarcane and paddy crops consume more water, while maize requires very little water. Therefore, using maize for ethanol will also be good for nature. For this, IIMR is disseminating best management practices and improved varieties in 15 catchment areas of 78 districts of 15 states, so that maize production increases.
The Ministry of Agriculture has set a target to increase maize production by 10 million tonnes in the next five years. The reason is that the demand for maize for poultry feed is increasing, along with this, it is very important to increase production for ethanol production. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2022-23, 380.85 lakh metric tonnes i.e. about 38 million tonnes of maize was produced in Kharif, Rabi and Summer seasons. Increasing it is the need of the hour and IIMR has joined this campaign.
