The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) today called upon the poultry farmers not to resort to panic buying of maize. The committee affirmed in a press release here today that there was no real shortage of maize in the country and in fact the maize production increased as compared to that last year. Quoting crop data from the Andhra Pradesh government, NECC said that maize was cultivated in 1.39 lakh hectares during the Rabi season, an increase of 153 per cent.
For the Kharif season, the area for cultivation was estimated at 3.88 lakh hectares, which would be 130 per cent higher than that in the last year.
The total area under maize cultivation for 2002-03 is about 5.72 lakh hectares and the estimated production is 1.4 million tonnes in Andhra Pradesh.
More From This Section
The NECC release stated that there were also similar reports of increase in maize crop cultivation in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bihar.
NECC, along with some organsiations, appealed to the state government for waiver of duty on TRQ imports of maize to bring about price stabilisation.
It felt that maize prices may drop considerably and that farmers need keep only bare minimum stock required.