In the last fiscal year 2022-23, the production of corn across the country was 64 lakh 20 thousand tons, which is about 8 lakh tons more than last year.
Agricultural officials say that due to climatic reasons, Bangladesh is not suitable for wheat cultivation, so farmers are turning to maize cultivation. As per the government`s policy, apart from mustard- fallow and vacant land has been brought under the cultivation of maize, which has increased the extent of cultivation of the crop.
Traders and farmers say that due to increase in demand and prices of fish, poultry and animal feed, the demand for maize- which is the main raw material is also increasing in the country. Farmers are getting more profit by cultivating maize instead of cultivating wheat. They are converting the land of other crops into corn cultivation land.
According to the preliminary data of the Department of Agricultural Extension, the production of maize in the country in the fiscal year 2021-22 was 56 lakh 29 thousand tons. 7 lakh 93 thousand tons increased to 64 lakh 20 thousand tons in the last financial year. Out of this, the yield in winter season was 57 lakh 53 thousand and the yield in summer was a little more than 6 lakh 78 thousand tons.
As production increased, so did productivity and the amount of cultivated land. In the financial year 2022-23, farmers cultivated maize on 6.05 lakh hectares which was 5.52 lakh hectares in the previous financial year. Meanwhile, the productivity per hectare increased from 10.20 tons to 10.60 tons this year.
Why is the production of corn increasing?
Shawkat Hossain, a farmer of Bagmara, Rajshahi. He cultivated corn for the first time last year and made a profit. He said, "Earlier I used to grow potatoes on this land. Some years we would incurr loss. And others grow corn and earn yearly. I cultivated corn for the first time last year after watching my relatives and neighbors. The cost of corn cultivation is low. Half a bigha of land yielded 20 maunds of corn. It made more than 10,000 taka profit.”
Rakibul Islam, a trader of wheat and corn in Rajshahi, said, "Currently, the price of corn is 30 taka and wheat is 42 taka per kg. Although some maize is combined with wheat to make flour, its demand as animal feed has increased greatly. Considering the productivity and market price of the two crops, maize cultivation is much more profitable. And threshing wheat is much more troublesome than corn.”
According to DAE data, production of maize is more than 10 tonnes per hectare whereas for wheat it is 3.69 tonnes.
In context to that, the wheat produced in one hectare of land is sold for about 1 lakh 55 thousand taka. On the contrary, 3 lakh taka is obtained from maize production on the same amount of land.
The director of the field branch of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md. Tajul Islam Patwari said, "We are giving training and demonstration to the corn farmers. Where there are fallow lands, they are being brought under cultivation and some lands which were vacant during the maize growing season, are being brought under cultivation.”
He said, “There are new varieties of maize that are yielding more than the previous varieties. This is how maize production is increasing.”
Top five districts in maize production
Dinajpur produces the most maize in the country. The district has produced 9 lakh 34 thousand tons of maize in the last financial year. It is followed by Panchagarh- 6 lakh 7 thousand tons, Chuadanga- 5 lakh 94 thousand tons, Lalmonirhat- 4 lakh 26 thousand tons and Thakurgaon- 3 lakh 16 thousand tons. 28 lakh 77 thousand tons of corn have been produced in these five districts, which is 44.77 percent of the total national production.
The maximum yield per hectare in winter season was 12.09 tonnes in Meherpur and lowest was 6.8 tonnes in Khagrachari . On the other hand, the maximum yield of 12 tonnes per hectare in summer season was in Chuadanga and the lowest was 4.70 tonnes in Bandarban.
