State begins procuring maize directly from farmers

Kolkata: West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation Limited (WBLDCL) has started procurement of maize directly from farmers belonging to Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Farmers’ Producer Company (FPC) for utilising the same in the production of poultry feed.

The main objective of the project is to encourage the farmers to cultivate maize as an alternative agriculture in low rainfall areas and less fertile lands so that the farmers are economically benefited.

A senior official of WBLDCL said that the maize will be used in different ways — the grain part in poultry feed and the remaining part as fodder by making silage.

“Maize contains energy, protein, and many other nutrients which are essential in animal feed preparation. Hence, WBLDCL is always there to provide a happy environment for both agriculture and animal husbandry sectors,” he added.

WBLDCL has to produce 5000 tonnes of poultry feed every month and 60 to 65 per cent maize is required for this purpose. It has been noticed that in some cases in the existing tendering system for procuring maize, the quality has sometimes been not upto

the mark.

“ In order to address this issue, we want to procure maize directly from farmers belonging to Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Farmers’ Producer Company. We will sign an agreement with the concerned company that the entire maize produced by it will be procured by us. To begin with, we have started purchasing maize from Rajnagar in Birbhum where a good number of tribal women are involved in its cultivation. 8 tonnes have already been procured from them,” Gouri Sankar Konar, Managing Director of WBLDCL said. A preparatory meeting was held in June 2023 at Rajnagar Development block. In November 2023, eight SHGs from villages Dhaka and Ramnagar of Rajnagar block had signed a contract with WBLDCL for selling yellow maize. The farmers were also trained in making silage (a preservation method) from maize plants after harvesting maize grains.

Konar said that after receiving instant payment for 8 tonnes of maize, the SHGs have been encouraged and are now cultivating on a larger scale.

“We want more SHGs, FPCs or individual farmers to undertake maize cultivation and we will be ready to procure the entire stuff from them,” the official added.