Bihar’s Agriculture Minister, Mangal Pandey, emphasized the need for private sector investment in hybrid maize seed production and storage facilities during a maize summit organized by FICCI on Wednesday. He outlined Bihar’s ambitious goal to cultivate maize across a record 10 lakh hectares this year.
As the fifth-largest maize producer in India, Bihar is seeing a shift among farmers toward maize cultivation, driven by market prices that exceed the minimum support price (MSP).
“Maize is no longer just for human and animal consumption; it is now also fueling our vehicles with ethanol-blended petrol,” Pandey noted, underscoring the crop’s growing versatility.
The Central Government’s approval of maize as a feedstock for ethanol production has significantly boosted demand, leading to the establishment of multiple ethanol plants throughout the state.
However, this agricultural growth has highlighted two major challenges: a lack of hybrid maize seeds and inadequate storage infrastructure.
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