MIRZA, March 5 - Sudden outbreak of coronavirus is likely to hit the maize farmers of Palasbari region as the companies are now unwilling to purchase maize from them.
According to information, a large section of farmers under Palasbari LAC cultivate maize in view of the surging demand in the market. However, this season, the companies have not shown interest in purchasing the crop from them on account of spread of coronavirus.
Two leading companies, Sona Vets Pvt Ltd and Brahmaputra Biochem Pvt Ltd, have been purchasing maize from the farmers, for which more and more farmers are now involved in maize cultivation in Palasbari. But, this year, the companies are yet to come forward to procure crop from them, and that has worried the farmers in the locality.
Talking to this ANN Service, Shyam Behera, manager of Sona Vets Pvt Ltd, informed that the demand for poultry products has been declining across the globe market due to the coronavirus fear that has affected the traders engaged in this business.
�We supply poultry feed to the farms scattered in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Since demand for poultry products is dipping gradually, they have scaled down their production,� he said, adding that as maize is the primary raw material used for manufacturing poultry feed, the companies dealing in production of poultry feed are not interested in purchasing maize from the farmers.
It may be mentioned here that Sona Vets, a unit of Shalimar Group of Companies, has 18 plants spread all over the country. It procures bulk quantity of maize from the farmers.
�Now, we have stopped producing poultry feed as demand is abysmally low,� said Behera.
Echoing the view, a senior official of Brahmaputra Biochem Pvt Ltd, said that the company has cut its production owing to poor demand for poultry products in the market. It is learnt that the company purchases nearly 40,000 tonnes of maize annually.
Ainal Hoque, a leading maize farmer, said that the price of maize has dropped drastically.
�We will be incurring a huge loss this year,� he claimed. Maize production in Palasbari has increased around 40 per cent this year as several new farmers have come forward for maize cultivation.
