Kamakhyanagar: Over the past few years, Aluajharan area under this block in Dhenkanal district has earned a name as a hub of sweet corn. Yet, the farmers allege the sweetness of farming sweet corn has turned sour for not being able to use modern technology as their counterparts in other states do.
In order to cash in on the sudden soaring of sweet corn demand, the farmers in areas like Aluajharan, Kadalipal, Sogar, Marichakan and Bijadiha who had been cultivating common corns for last seven years have now switched over to sweet corn farming for two years.
According to the farmers, sweet corn was first cultivated in Aluajharan area and later on all followed the suit. While corn is grown on 300 acres of land in Aluajharan and Bijadiha villages alone all the year round, most farmers grow sweet corn.
They further said corn is grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons. While Kharif corn is harvested in the month of September, Rabi variety gets ready for harvest by the month of January. Similarly, summer is the best period to sow common corn but for sweet corn, winter months are more suitable.
While discussing about their investment and profit, they said the rate of sweet corn seed is ten times more than that of the common corn. To grow sweet corn on an acre of land, three to four thousand seeds are required. A farmer spends at least Rs 10, 000 per acre towards labourers’ wages and compost. From an average investment of Rs 25, 000, a farmer can earn a profit of anything between Rs 40, 000 and Rs 50, 000. On the other hand, common corn earns a profit between Rs 15, 000 and Rs 20, 000.
They further alleged that farmers are interested to carry on sweet corn farming. More and more farmers are taking up sweet corn farming, leaving their traditional crops.
But what if they don’t get proper market for their produce, they asked.
The situation is so pitiable that farmers can be seen selling sweet corns sitting on the ground by the roadside. However, since the demand for sweet corn has increased manifold, businessmen from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Sambalpur are procuring these corns from us, they observed.
“We don’t have a well market-linkage. And the use of modern technology in our farmlands is next to nothing. If these two problems are done away with, people across the state can taste the sweetness of our sweet corns,” they maintained.
PNN
