KFL Commences Maize Cultivation at Muthalamada

PALAKKAD:
The Kerala Feeds Limited (KFL) today launched a project to cultivate maize, a major ingredient in cattlefeed production, at Muthalamada here.

The project seeks to cultivate raw materials for cattlefeed within the state as part of the government’s effort to help the dairy farmers by reducing the prices of cattlefeed through different measures.

KFL is collaborating with Agriculture Department, Veterinary University and Dairy Development Department to implement the maize farming project, which will get technical assistance from Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), Punjab.

Maize will be cultivated in a 15-acre land owned by Muthalamada East Dairy Cooperative Society. To begin with, it will be cultivated in five acres of land of the society, KFL Managing Director Dr B Sreekumar said after a seed sowing function.

“As suggested by experts from IIMR, we planted CO(H)M8 hybrid variety maize here. From minimum one acre of land, we can produce three tonnes of maize,” Dr Sreekumar said.

The MD also informed that KFL is ready to acquire the maize, being cultivated in minimum five-acre land in Kerala as per the technical advice of IIMR, by giving the actual market price or higher price for it.

According to IIMR scientists, who attended the function, the PH value of the soil is good for maize farming. Led by Senior Scientist Dr Subi, the others who attended from IIMR were Dr Shankar Lal Jhat and Dr Yathish KR.

“After 100 days, maize will be ready for harvest. We will examine the growth of maize after 20 days. Apart from providng technical expertise, IIMR will also monitor the progress of growth of maize constantly,” Dr Subi said.

She added that if the experimental cultivation becomes successful, it can be cultivated in minimum five acres of land widely across Kerala.

Muthalamada Panachyat Vice President Alai Raj; KFL Nutritionist Dr Anuraj, KFL Manager, Projects, Sudhir; Dairy Development Department Deputy Director Jaya Suresh; Assistant Director and Quality Control Officer Femi V Mathew; Administrative officer Afsa; Agriculture Officer Aswathy; District Cooordinator of Employment Gurantee Scheme, Balagopal; Kudumbashree Cooridnator Saithalavi and Kudumbashree members were also present.