Farmers can earn Rs 45k easily by planting sweet corns: Expert
Source: Chronicle News Service / Premchand Thongam

Imphal, October 22 2021: Farmers can easily earn up to Rs 45,000 within three months just by growing one sangam of sweet corn, a type of special maize, said Dr Th Renuka, an associate professor of plant-breeding undergoing research at Central Agricultural University under All India Coordinated Research Project on Maize.

Speaking in a tete-a-tete with The People's Chronicle, Dr Renuka said that the research into sweet corn has been going on for few years, in close association with Director of Extension Education Prof Ph Ranjit.

Sweet corn has grown popularity considerably as one of the foods with high demand over the years, and it takes only 80-90 days to fully cultivate.

Farmers can plant around 8000 sweet corns in one sangam and each corn can be sold at a price of Rs 10, thereby enabling them to earn at least Rs 45-50,000 after deducting cost of cultivation.

With regard to suitably of cultivation of sweet corn in the state, the winter season'is not optimum for cultivating maize as temperatures could come down below 12 degrees during evenings.

However, the maize could be planted by the start of February.

One of the interesting features of sweet corn is its low starch content while the sugar content is high, the sugar being all natural.

The sweet corn is safe to consume by the diabetic patients as the glycemic index of sweet corn is also quite low, she added.

"One cup of sweet corn i.e., 164 gm contains 177 calories, 41gm of Carbohydrate, 5.4 gm of Protein, 2.1 gm of fat, 4.6 gm of fiber, 17 per cent of Vitamin C at daily value, 28 per cent of Vitamin Bl (Thiamin) at daily value, 19 per cent of Vitamin BP (Foliate) at daily value, 11 per cent of Magnesium and 10 per cent of Potassium," she conveyed.

Dr Renuka continued: "In Manipur's context, around 22.13 per cent of the population are producing domestic products, as per the 2011 census.

A total of 18 different crops are planted during the two seasons of the state, of which rice and maize are the crops which are frequently planted.

To be precise, around 224.38 hectares and 26.19 hectares of the arable land in the state are planted with rice or maize respectively, with rice being the first choice and maize becoming second choice for most people.

Maize is also planted in the hill districts".

Talking about her experiences while carrying out the project under AICRP, she said that over the past few years, farmers have started growing sweet corn.

Around 10-15 hectares of land in Imphal East, Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts have been used for planting sweet corns successfully, she informed, while adding that the demand for sweet corn is also increasing.

(This article is published under Media Fellowship Programme in Scientific Journalism of the Public Relations and Media Management Cell of Central Agricultural University Imphal.
For further information regarding this article and other related matters, one can contact CAU PRMM Cell's information and publicity officer Dr Indira Thounaojam or through e-mail: prmmcell@gmail.com) .

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