Deputy Commissioner P.N. Ravindra appeals to farmers to register early as maize procurement process begins across the district.
Chikkaballapur
The registration process for maize procurement has begun across the district, and Deputy Commissioner P.N. Ravindra has urged farmers to register in large numbers without delay. He requested that maize-growing farmers visit the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) camps operating at milk union centres in every taluk and complete their registration at the earliest.
Chairing the District Task Force Committee meeting on maize procurement at the district administration building on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner said that maize has been cultivated on 54,497 hectares this year, yielding an estimated 16,34,910 quintals. While a portion of the produce has already been sold, around 14,82,420 quintals remain with farmers.
To support farmers, KMF has initiated the purchase of 10,000 metric tonnes of maize from farmers of Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, and Chikkaballapur districts through its Rajanukunte feed manufacturing unit. Farmers from Chikkaballapur can register at the milk union camps to participate in this procurement. As of now, 155 farmers from the district have enrolled, and the Deputy Commissioner encouraged many more to register and benefit by selling maize at ₹2,400 per quintal.
Along with KMF’s procurement process, authorities have been instructed to prepare for maize purchase under the 2025–26 Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme. Under this scheme, the Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation has been designated as the nodal agency to purchase maize from farmers. Based on land records available on the FRUITS portal, each farmer can sell up to 50 quintals, calculated at 12 quintals per acre, at the MSP rate of ₹2,400 per quintal.
Given the large quantity of maize cultivated in the district, the Deputy Commissioner directed officials to explore setting up an additional KMF procurement centre at the APMC premises in Bhagyanagar (Bagepalli), similar to the ongoing process at Rajanukunte. The Managing Director of the Chikkaballapur Milk Union was instructed to write to KMF headquarters seeking approval for the new centre.