The New Indian Express ·
Tamil Nadu farmers flag poor quality of subsidised maize seeds
SALEM: Farmers in Attur, Pethanaickenpalayam, Vazhapadi and other parts of Salem, where maize is a major crop, have raised concerns over the poor yield of a maize variety supplied by the agriculture department under a government subsidy scheme, claiming that it has not performed well under the district’s soil and climatic conditions.
Salem District Farmers’ Welfare Association president V S Govindaraj said farmers who cultivated the subsidised variety last year obtained only around 15 bags per acre, against around 40 bags from a good-yielding variety. “Earlier, farmers could expect a profit of around Rs 2 lakh from a good crop. But with this variety, many were not even able to recover their cultivation expenses,” he said.
The seeds, priced at around Rs 420 per kg, are supplied at Rs 320. Farmers said they were reluctant to purchase the same variety again this year, citing the poor yield, and sought either an alternative variety suited to Salem or restoration of the earlier back-ended subsidy system, which allowed them to choose their preferred seeds.
