Reaping a rich harvest from maize crop
More than half of the feed comes from fodders and crop residues, one-third from grazing of rangelands, wastelands, canal bank, road sides and other crops and their by-products. In Pakistan animals are generally under-fed although one-sixth of the total cropped area is put under fodder crop. The annual supply is approximately 54 to 60 per cent less than the actually needed. This shortage is met by giving wanda, concentrates and other feed to animals.
The area under this crop is about 3.35 million hectares out of a total cropped area of 21.85 million ha producing more than 60 million tons of fodder according to the Economic Survey 2003-04. This is not sufficient even to meet the requirements of the existing livestock population. The increase in milk production has resulted due to greater availability of green fodder in the recent past. If animals receive a full diet without changing the feed mix i.e, maintaining the present low nutrition mix, this alone could increase the milk yield by 100 per cent.
Maize planted from February to September helps in coping with the fodder scarcity problems faced in May, June, October and November. It is nutritious and relished by the livestock, especially the milch animals. The green fodder contains 1.56 per cent protein, 0.30 per cent fat, and 5.27 per cent fibre.
Maize grown for green fodder is a short-duration crop and is ready for harvesting about 58–75 days after sowing. It is an excellent human and animal food. The per hectare yield of maize in Pakistan and especially in Sindh is very low as compared to other maize growing regions of the world. There is little scope of increasing area under our conditions because cultivation of cereals, fibre, sugar, oil crops and limited sources of irrigation water has already limited the area. However, there is a scope for the increased production per unit area achieved in case of wheat, rice cotton and sugarcane crop.
Maize crop is utilized in many ways in contrast with other grain crops. Its grain is an excellent human food, cattle feed and raw material for many industries. The grains are put to a number of industrial uses and various articles are manufactured from them. Silks are used for making filters, husks for mattresses, pith for packing copper drawers of battle ships, and cobs for corn pipes. Grain furnishes corn oil. The starch is used in the preparation of glucose, dextrin, and in textile and paper industries. When grains are husked the stover is left which is used as feed for cattle. Maize fodder is good for all types of animals. When entire plant is used for forage, it exceeds all other forage crop in average yield.
Maize harvested in milk stage, contains higher percentage of protein, calcium and phosphorus and is high in vitamin A value. It is a cheap source of raw material for various industries such as paper and in corn cob-pipes. It is a nutritious food and is a palatable feed for the poultry and livestock. It is an important cereal and fodder in the irrigated areas of Sindh. It is the richest source of livestock feeding. This crop can be grown under wide range of climate throughout the year for fodder purpose in the southern Sindh.
The area and production has decreased in Sindh from 2000-01 to 2004-2005. Data indicate that the area of maize fodder has decreased from 7.715 to 3.042 hectares and production has dropped from 4.376 to 1.563 metric tons due to the shortage of irrigation water. Maize is sown in large scale in Punjab and the NWFP provinces for grain purpose. In Sindh, its cultivation as grain crop is very limited but as a fodder, it occupies a significant place. It has assumed a place of a cash crop for farmers.
Maize grown for green fodder is a short-duration crop and is ready for harvesting in about 8-10 weeks after sowing. No research in the recent past has been carried out to find out the profitability of maize as green fodder in Sindh, inspite of the ever-increasing demands and its economic importance.
Maize fodder needs six to seven irrigations. The first irrigation is given after 25 to 30 days of sowing and subsequent after 10 to 12 days till the maturity. The growers of maize fodder apply two to six irrigations with an average of four irrigations. The average cost of irrigation comes to Rs2,016 per hectare.
Manual harvesting of green fodder is common with the help of sickle locally called as “Datro”. The labour required for cutting maize fodder is five to fifteen with an average 10 labourers per acre. The labour charges Rs100 per day. Beopari spends on maize fodder cutting Rs500 to Rs1,500 with an average Rs1,000 per acre.
The yield of maize fodder varied from farm to farm. There are a number of reasons for this variation i.e., soil, land preparation, fertilizer, and inputs use. It is estimated that the average yield of maize fodder is 1,400 mds/ha. The maize fodder yield is more in large farms as compared to small and medium ones. Growers reported that the production could be increased by the application of improved practices and the use of balanced fertilizer and inputs use.
It is found that an average price Rs40 per maund is received by the growers for maize fodder. The high price is received by large farms. Prices vary depending on crop condition, locations and prevailing price in the market.
Contracts are commonly used in maize fodder. Usually producers avoid marketing. Contractors keep close links with the commission agents in wholesale markets. They possess a wide knowledge of the production and marketing system. It is found that the overall contract price comes at Rs15,279 per acre. The maize fodder contract price for large farm averages at Rs15,000 per acre and Rs16,090 for medium and Rs15,944 for small farms.
Transportation cost is mostly paid by Beoparies. They arrange transportation of fodder crops on trucks to other markets by spending on average Rs5,083 per truck. Timely and accurate information has been examined in this study. This is important for both operational and pricing efficiency. The scarcity of market information limits the ability of the grower to take timely decision for marketing their produce. The survey reveals that the traditional channel to acquire information is a personal visit or the neighbouring grower. About 12 per cent growers get information from personal visit, 47 per cent from their neighbours, 35 per cent from beoparies and six per cent by telephone.
Variable costs differs from farm to farm, one producer to another and crop to crop. Results indicate that the highest cost of Rs2,0054/hectare is incurred on land development followed by Rs4,419 on fertilizer, Rs2,016 on irrigation, and Rs3,094 on seed. The total variable cost incurred is Rs37,008.
Total cost is defined as the fixed cost plus variable costs (TFC + TVC = TC). The total cost of production is determined to appraise the input-output relationship. For this purpose all costs incurred in the maize fodder cultivation are aggregated and presented in the table.
Higher per hectare yield of green fodder can be achieved by improved production technologies. Cultivation of green fodder in Hyderabad has a great potential because there is a better net return from green fodder as compared to other crops grown in the study area.
The foregoing analysis has indicated that improved management practices such as proper land development, quality seed, and timely irrigation are necessary to enhance the production. In fact, most of the growers do not know the advantages of timely and adequate use of inputs and use of chemical fertilizer. It is therefore, suggested that proper dose of fertilizers and improved management practices are essential to achieve better production.
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