Explained: Why sowing maize in spring is not a good choice for Punjab farmers

Utilizing more area for maize cultivation is always a welcome move in a state like Punjab where maize is seen as an alternative to the water-guzzling paddy crop. But growing maize during spring is not always a good choice in Punjab. We explain why.

The ideal time for sowing maize is from January-end to February 15. But farmers continue to sow it till the end of February or even in early March.

Spring maize is sown mostly in the potato belt comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts and in a few other districts like Gurdaspur, Ropar and Ludhiana.

Harvesting of table potato harvesting, which started in January in the state, ends by February-end or early March. By that time, sowing of spring maize also starts in the state.

Before paddy sowing, which starts by mid-June and ends by early July, the fields of potato growers remain empty. During this time, from February to mid-June, farmers prefer to grow one more crop before paddy.

Therefore, spring maize is a good option as it is a 120-122 days’ crop and it is also harvested by June. During spring, maize of hybrid quality is grown the yield of which is very high.

Farmers get 90 to 100 quintals per hectare during spring, which is quite a high yield. If they get a good rate, which happens rarely, and if it is at par with the MSP decided by the centre government, which is around Rs 1900 per quintal, then they can earn a huge amount due to the high yield.

From March to June, the temperature in the state is very high and the sunshine hours are also long. The temperature starts rising from March from 35 degree centigrade to 45 degree in June. Also, the average sunshine hours remain between  9 to 9.5 hours.

“Due to high temperature, the water gets evaporated soon and frequent watering of the maize crop is needed in peak summer season. This affects the water table drastically,” said Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, who is also an internationally renowned agriculture scientist. He added that this crop is ‘big no’ without ‘drip irrigation’ for Punjab where the groundwater table is depleting drastically and there is a need for sustainable farming .

Ajmer Singh Brar, Principal Agronomist at PAU Ludhiana, said, “As per a PAU study, 1500 litres of water are needed to grow one kg maize. The water needed in growing one kg of paddy is more than three times this amount. But paddy is sown at the onset of the monsoon and therefore gets water from rainfall. But in summer, when maize is grown, rainfall is almost negligible and temperatures are high. You have to take the humidity into consideration also. Farmers water their crops 18-20 times. So, these 1,500 litres become a burden on the groundwater. This is not good for a state like Punjab.”

He also said that there is no possibility of seepage of the water, which is used for irrigation, in the field due to evaporation.

Both Dr Dhillon and Dr Brar said that if farmers want to grow summer maize, then drip irrigation is a must as it will save nearly 40% of the water. Potato farmers who grow maize must exercise their social responsibility keeping in mind the need to preserve water for our future generations, they said.

Experts said that summer moong and sunflower crops are the best alternatives.

Summer moong is a 70-day crop and sunflower is a 100-day crop. While summer moong needs only 3-4 irrigations, sunflower also takes 25-30% less water than summer maize.

Both the crops are extremely vital in the country as India imports 2.5 million tonnes sunflower oil every year and also 2-3 million tonnes of pulses.

Even Punjab meets 85% of its requirement of pulses from other states. Growing pluses also improves soil health. Dr Brar said that sunflower can be grown in big clusters in the state and proper marketing of these crops can help farmers earn well.

Apart from these, mash pulse, vegetables, sugarcane and green manure, which enhances the fertility of the soil, can be grown in spring.

Punjab needs to diversify its crop pattern, from paddy to maize, cotton and basmati. But the ideal alternative when it comes to maize is not the spring maize but kharif maize, which is grown during the paddy season from June to October.

The state needs to bring around 5 lakh hectares under kharif maize cultivation. Though it is also the main maize grown in the state, 1.10 to 1.30 lakh hectares are used for growing this crop.

Experts said that water consumption of kharif maize, which is sown just before the rainy season, is very less because most of its water need is met by the rains.

However, the yield of kharif maize is quite less, which is around 50 to 60 quintals per hectare, depending upon varieties, as compared to the spring season. The need of the hour is to focus on developing good kharif maize varieties. It also needs to be marketed better so that farmers can use more area for its cultivation instead of growing paddy.