VIBHA VERMA
PANJIM: Researchers at India’s premier agricultural institute have found the Goan climatic condition suitable for the farming of sweet corn, the cash crop that is in good demand.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) senior horticulture scientists Dr K Ramachandrudu and Dr M Thangam culminating their two-year long research have come out with this encouraging finding for the farmers who want to go for alternate cropping.
The study has concluded that agro-climatic conditions in Goa have been found suitable for sweet corn production.
“Being the most popular tourist destination in the country, Goa will require tons of sweet corn to meet the demand created by a large number of tourists,” said Dr Thangam.
Being a highly remunerative crop, ICAR scientists opined, it offers a golden opportunity for farmers, small scale industrialists and unemployed youth to tap the potential market for both– fresh cobs and value-added products.
The coastal belt, which receives ample number of tourists, is also suitable to produce different varieties of sweet corn.
“There is a growing demand for organic sweet corn particularly from the foreign tourists. This is a great opportunity for farmers to earn more income by growing the crop organically which fetches a good price,” he said.
Goa presently imports sweet corn from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Thangam explained that sweet corn cultivation is easy as it does not need much attention from the grower except at the harvesting stage. The crop needs to be weeded just once.
“It is a short duration crop which hardly needs three months to mature for harvesting. Farmers can take up a minimum of three crops in a year. It can be grown round the year irrespective of the season,” he said.
“After paddy cultivation, the sweet corn can be grown. To start with a farmer can use 100 meters to plant seeds and in a fortnight use another 100 meters, and so forth cultivating corn on about 500-1000 meters of land. During this gap, as the corn matures, it can be sold in the market,” he added.
Sweet corn seeds are available in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Belgaum at a cost which varies from Rs 600 to 1500 per kg.
Scientists have instructed that proper care must be taken to provide proper drainage particularly in rainy season since it is highly susceptible to water stagnation. Farmers, interested in taking this up as an alternative crop, are suggested to grow sweet corn on sloppy and uplands in the rainy season and low lands after the harvesting of paddy during winter and summer with sufficient irrigation along with other vegetables.
As per evaluation studies, being a short duration crop, it can fit well in multiple/inter cropping systems. It is however not fit for coconut or areca nut based cropping systems as it needs sunlight for growth and high yield. More so, hybrids Sweet Pearl and Golden Honey have been found as the most promising for commercial production.
Additionally, sweet corn produces huge quantity fodder for cattle. The scientists claim that sweet corn fodder improves the milk production of milch cattle, making it one more reason for dairy farmers to opt for growing sweet corn in Goa.
