Maize cultivation beneficial for dairy farmers, milk production

Maize cultivation is very beneficial for humans as well as provides nutritious green fodder for animals. Cattle farmers can grow it for both grain and fodder for their animals. Maize is cultivated on a large scale in India. Maize is grown in almost all the states of the country. The botanical name of maize is ‘Zea mays’ and it comes in the category of coarse grains.

Green fodder of maize, also known as corn, is very beneficial for dairy farmers, it reduces the cost of milk production. Let us tell you that there is a shortage of about 35.6 percent of green fodder in the country, in such a situation, the cultivation of maize helps the farmers a lot. Its fodder is more nutritious than other crops. Maize contains a lot of soluble sugar, due to which quality silage can be made from it and fed to dairy animals for a long time.

Let us tell you that 85 percent of maize production in the country is used as food. In a country like India where there is a shortage of green fodder, it becomes very important to do farming through new techniques, so by doing advanced cultivation of maize, livestock farmers can get more and more green fodder.

Maize cultivation: Soil and climate

Although maize can be cultivated in all types of soil, but sandy loam and clay loam soil are considered good for a good crop. The soil should have sufficient fossils and nutrients and its pH value should be 6-7.5. The soil should have good drainage. A temperature of 24-30 degrees is considered good for the good growth of maize crop, it is a crop of hot climate.

Suitable varieties of maize for green fodder

African Tall, J- 1006, Jawahar Sankul, Vijay Sankul, Manjari Composite, Moti Sankul, Pratap Maize Chari-6, MPFM-8 etc.

When to sow maize?

In northern India, it is sown between June-July and March-August, while in southern India it is sown from February to November. Before sowing, treat the seeds with thiram/bavistin at the rate of 1 gram per kg and then sow. The seed rate per hectare is different for different varieties. Normal maize should be sown at the rate of 20 kg per hectare, sweet corn maize at the rate of 8 kg per hectare, baby corn maize at the rate of 25 kg per hectare, green corn cob at the rate of 20 kg per hectare, green fodder maize at the rate of 50-60 kg per hectare.

Manure and fertilizers in maize crop

Maize crop grown for green fodder requires 80 kg nitrogen, 40 kg phosphorus and 40 kg potash. Apply full quantity of phosphorus and potash and 1/3 quantity of nitrogen in the last ploughing. Apply two-third of the remaining nitrogen in the field 30 days after sowing. If symptoms of zinc deficiency are seen in the initial stage of the crop, then mix 5.0 kg zinc sulphate and 2.5 kg lime in 100 liters of water and spray it on the plants.

Irrigation and weed management in maize crop

Due to rain in monsoon season, maize crop does not require irrigation, whereas in other seasons 3-5 irrigations are required. Weeds cause a lot of damage to the crop, so their management is necessary. Mix 1 to 1.5 kg atrazine and alachlor in 400 to 500 liters of water and spray it in one hectare. Spray 2-3 days after sowing.

Harvesting for fodder

Harvest good quality fodder when 50% of the plants have flowered or the grains have started filling with milk. With proper management, 40 to 50 tonnes of green fodder can be easily obtained per hectare. If you want to get grains, harvest them when the grains are dry, it should have only 20% moisture. To make silage, the maize crop should be harvested after the milk stage.

Maize cake is also beneficial

Along with green fodder, maize cake is also very beneficial for dairy animals. Its consumption increases the fat content in milk, due to which farmers get good prices for milk. Actually, the oil content in maize cake is 10 to 14 percent, whereas the oil content in other cakes like cottonseed, groundnut and mustard is only 7-8 percent. Due to this, milk production increases by feeding maize cake to animals.