Guwahati: The Assam government on Wednesday urged farmers to diversify into maize cultivation, citing rising demand from the ethanol industry and higher income potential, while assuring continued support through Minimum Support Price (MSP) incentives.
The issue came up during the Budget Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly after Congress MLA Mohibur Rahman alleged that inadequate procurement facilities were preventing farmers from receiving the MSP announced by the Centre.
Raising the matter in the House, the Mankachar MLA said maize cultivation has been increasing in his constituency, but farmers are forced to sell their produce at around Rs 1,500 per quintal despite the Centre fixing the MSP at Rs 2,410 per quintal last year.
He urged the government to strengthen procurement mechanisms before the next marketing season so that farmers can realise the notified MSP.
Rahman also flagged a similar issue in mustard procurement, stating that although the MSP for mustard is Rs 6,200 per quintal, farmers are receiving only Rs 4,800-5,000 in local markets.
Replying to the discussion, Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika said the state government is supplementing the Centre’s MSP through additional incentives while encouraging maize cultivation because of its expanding market.
He said the state provides an additional incentive of Rs 300 per quintal for mustard over the Centre’s MSP, taking the effective support price to Rs 6,500 per quintal. For maize, the Centre’s MSP is around Rs 2,400 per quintal, while the Assam government provides an additional incentive of Rs 250 per quintal.
Highlighting the crop’s growing demand, Hazarika said South Salmara and Mankachar together produced more than 5,300 metric tonnes of maize last year.
“The ethanol industry has created a significant market for maize. Producing ethanol domestically will help reduce fuel imports while creating additional income opportunities for farmers,” he said.
The minister added that maize prices have improved in recent years due to increased demand and claimed that farmers could earn around Rs 35,000 from cultivating maize on one bigha of land.
He urged farmers to continue paddy cultivation while increasingly adopting maize as a diversification crop because of its higher returns and expanding market.