Animal Husbandry and Dairy Secretary urged Food Secretary for duty free import of maize

Sowing of Kharif crop in the country is almost complete and maize is an important crop in the Kharif season. After about one and a half months, the Kharif season maize crop will start coming in the market. At such a time, Alka Upadhyay, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, has written a letter to Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, to allow duty free import of 35 lakh tonnes of maize. If government allows duty free import of maize, it will  have a  negative impact on the prospects of getting good price for farmers in coming Khari marketing season. It is also against the government's efforts to promote agricultural diversification and coarse grains.

Alka Upadhyay, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, has written a letter to Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, requesting to reduce the import duty on maize from 15 percent to zero, to allow direct import of maize to processors instead of NAFED and to allow import of GM soymeal. Along with this, it has been recommended to continue the ban on future trading of soya bean products in NCDEX.

Union Animal Husbandry Secretary Alka Upadhyay has written this letter on the demand of All India Poultry Breeders Association (AIPBA) and Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association (CLFMA). In view of the shortage of maize availability in the country and rising prices, these organizations have demanded the government to reduce the import duty on maize to zero and allow the industry to import maize directly.

The poultry and livestock feed industry may have its own concerns regarding the shortage and prices of maize. But questions are being raised about the Union Secretary's lobbying to reduce the import duty on maize to zero and promote imports on the demand of the industry. Kedar Shankar Sirohi, President of the Farmers Cell of Madhya Pradesh Congress, says that the country's bureaucracy is working for the interests of the industry rather than the farmers. When the prices of farmers' crops fall, no official worries, but as soon as the prices of maize increase a little, efforts to increase imports have started. Top officials of the government are openly lobbying for the industry says Sirohi.

Maize is used in poultry feed and animal feed as well as in ethanol production. The poultry industry believes that this year maize production in the country will be around 360 lakh tonnes while the total requirement of maize including ethanol blending is 410 lakh tonnes. Out of this, about 234 lakh tonnes of maize is required by the livestock feed industry. In this way, more than 60 percent of the maize produced in the country is used in the poultry and feed industry.

Under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), last month the Central Government had allowed the import of 4.98 lakh tonnes of non-GM maize through NAFED. For this, 15 percent import duty has been fixed while the basic import duty on maize import is 50 percent. The industry is demanding the government to allow the import of 50 lakh tonnes of maize at zero import duty. On the basis of this demand, the Union Animal Husbandry Secretary has requested the Food Secretary to import 35 lakh tonnes of maize under TRQ. Also, maize processors have been requested to allow direct import as the NAFED channel is a complex and time-consuming process.

Due to less rainfall in maize-producing states in the year 2023-24 and the use of maize in ethanol production, the livestock feed industry is facing a shortage of maize availability and high prices. Currently, the price of maize in the market has reached Rs 27-28 per kg. The average price of maize in agricultural markets across the country in July was Rs 2384.75 per quintal, which is slightly higher than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2225 per quintal.

Decline in Maize Production

Maize production decreased in the country over the last two years. The area of maize sowing has remained stagnant at around 107 lakh hectares, while production decreased from 380.85 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 to 356.73 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. Yield of maize has dropped from 35.45 quintals per hectare to 33.21 quintals per hectare. Last year, maize yield was affected due to a weak monsoon and lack of rain in maize-producing states, leading to decreased production and increased maize imports.

Production May Increase This Year

In the current Kharif season of 2024-25, as of July 19, maize sowing has been completed in 67.78 lakh hectares, which is 5 lakh hectares more than the same period last year. Considering the forecast of a normal monsoon this year and the progress of maize sowing, production is expected to increase. However, if maize is imported into the country at zero duty, maize prices may fall in the market when the new crop will arrive. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government to save interests of farmers when making decisions related to maize imports.