To stabilise the price of the maize that had slumped in recent times, the five cattle feed manufacturing plants of the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited (KMF) would commence the purchase of the produce at the price of ₹1,750 per quintal from May 12, said B.Y. Raghavendra, Shivamogga MP.
According to an estimate, maize was grown on around 13 lakh hectares in Karnataka since June 2019 that includes kharif, rabi and summer crops. The major chunk of the maize is used to produce poultry and cattle feed. The slump in the price of chicken due to rumours during the early phase of the outbreak of COVID-19 had a cascading effect on the price of maize also. The purchase of maize had come to a standstill owing to the enforcement of lockdown.
Mr. Raghavendra told presspersons here on Monday that the price of maize that was at ₹2,000 per quintal in the market till September 2019 has slumped to around ₹1,100 now. “While a large quantity of the produce cultivated in the kharif season of the year 2019 has remained unsold, the harvesting of rabi and summer crops has also been completed. The maize growers had requested the State government to come to their rescue. Heeding their request, the State government had directed KMF to purchase the maize for production of cattle feed at its five feed production plants at the price of ₹1,750 per quintal,” he said.
Expressing optimism that the purchase by KMF would result in enhancement of the price of the produce in the open market also, he said that farmers should furnish a photocopy of Records of Rights, Tenancy, Crop and Cultivation (RTC) while selling the produce. The maximum quantity of purchase from each farmer has been capped at 50 quintals.
