Mangal Pandey, Minister of Agriculture & Health, Department of Agriculture, Govt of Bihar today said that the state government is committed to support the industry coming forward to support the welfare of farmers and agricultural sector. Addressing the 10th edition of ‘India Maize Summit 2024’, organized by FICCI, Pandey while highlighting the role of maize in food, feed and industrial uses, invited the private sector to come forward to invest in Bihar and avail benefits of various subsidies which have been introduced to boost the agriculture sector. “The government of Bihar has taken a target of increasing area under maize cultivation to about 10 lakh hectares in the current year,” he stated.
Pandey further stated that Bihar currently has storage capacity of 5 lakh MT for maize and the government is working to increase the capacity to meet the future demand. The Minister also highlighted the need for good quality maize seed and called upon the seed industry to set-up operations in Bihar to provide good quality maize hybrid seeds to the farmers.
Dr Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt of India highlighted the need to create a vision document for next 10 years indicating sector wise demand of maize for the next decade along with the interventions required to achieve the demand. “We need to promote area expansion under the summer maize crop which will help in increasing the maize production as well as diversifying from traditional crops such as rice,” he added.
Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Govt of Bihar said that the state government has implemented several initiatives to promote maize cultivation. “Under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and state plan, we have facilitated the distribution of subsidized seeds, provided training and capacity building for farmers, and demonstrated advanced farming techniques. Special schemes for the promotion of baby corn and sweet corn are also being undertaken to diversify maize products and increase market opportunities” he added. Agarwal further stated that the state government plans to promote in-house production of seeds in Bihar and is working on a policy framework in this regard.
Subroto Geed, President, South Asia, Corteva Agriscience, said, "India's maize sector is primed for a revolution, with its potential to significantly enhance productivity, and support the accelerating requirement in feed, fodder, fuel and other industrial applications.” Maize is also a strong candidate for crop diversification as the focus on sustainable agriculture goes up, he added.
Kaushal Jaiswal, Co-Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee and Managing Director, Rivulis Irrigation India Pvt. Ltd. mentioned that Maize Summit is an effort to bring fore the global and domestic scenario of maize and issues confronting the maize supply chain.
Sunjay Vuppuluri, National Head-Food & Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research, YES BANK shared the insights on FICCI-YES BANK knowledge report.
FICCI-YES BANK knowledge report – ‘The Indian Maize Sector – Trends, Challenges & Imperatives for Sustainable Growth’, was released during the session.
