Maize selling below MSP, price down by up to Rs 600 a quintal

With the arrival of rabi maize to mandis, its price has slumped below Minimum Support Price (MSP) in Bihar, which is a major producer of the crop. As arrival in the mandis has increased, the price of maize has fallen by up to Rs 600 per quintal in the last two weeks.

At present, the average price of maize is ruling around Rs 1,850-1,950 per quintal, though the government has fixed the MSP of maize at Rs 1,962 per quintal for the marketing season 2022-23.

Market experts say maize was trading at Rs 2,400-2,500 per quintal in early April. From the second week of this month, the harvesting of maize for the rabi season started and the new crop started arriving in the mandis. After April 15, when the arrivals increased, pressure started building on the prices and it came down to Rs 1,850-1,950 per quintal. Maize is trading at this rate in various mandis of Bihar, including Gulab Bagh in Purnia.

Maize is mainly a Kharif crop, but in Bihar it is being grown in Rabi season in a big way. According to trade sources, due to lack of export demand, there is pressure on the prices. Export demand is low due to falling prices in the global market.

Bird flu is currently spreading in China. A new strain of bird flu called H3N8 has emerged in China, resulting in low demand from the poultry industry. Because of this also the export demand is less. The demand from the domestic poultry industry is also coming out low. In the global market, the price of maize has fallen by 20 per cent in the last one year. Arrival of new crop has put double pressure on domestic prices.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has estimated a record production of 34.6 million tonnes of maize in its second advance estimate for the crop year 2022-23 (September-October). This is 8.83 lakh tonnes more than last year. In the crop year 2021-22, 3.37 crore tonnes of maize was produced. The ministry estimates that maize production could reach 10.78 million tonnes in the rabi season.

It is mainly a Kharif crop. 85 per cent is cultivated during kharif, while rabi maize is 15 per cent. Maize is widely cultivated in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan has the largest area under maize, while Karnataka has the highest production.

Bihar is on top in rabi maize cultivation. Maize farmer Naveen Kumar Munna of Purnia district of Bihar says that for the last three-four years, the price of maize remained attractive. In the beginning of April it seemed that the price would remain above Rs 2,000 per quintal but now the price has gone below this.

Due to this farmers' earning has gone down compared to last year. However, those who have taken up early cultivation have sold maize for up to Rs 2,200 per quintal, but the number of such farmers is very less.