Prospects for sweetcorn in Mauritius
| MSI99P2710 | |
| Rummun, K. Govinden, N. | |
| Prospects for sweetcorn in Mauritius | |
| Lalouette, J. A., Bachraz, D. Y., Sukurdeep, N., Seebaluck, B. D.(eds), Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting of Agricultural Scientists, Reduit,Mauritius, 12-13 August 1997 | |
| Book chapter | |
| 1998 | |
| p.21-25 | |
| Reduit, Food and Agricultural Research Council | |
| En | |
| En | |
| Mauritius imports abour MUR 10 million worth of sweetcorn annually in the form of frozen or canned kernels. It is estimated that a further MUR 48 million worth could potentially be sold as fresh ears on the cob. This potential demand justifies an examination of the prospects for local production. The MSIRI has developed the necessary know-how to produce maize in pure stand and in interrows of sugar cane. Using this technology, up to 1800 ha were planted with maize in 1986. This production has now dwindled to insignificance because importation is now cheaper than production. Only about 300 ha are now used for the production of vegetable corn, leaving 1500 ha for other uses. Earlier attempts at sweetcorn production failed because imported hybrids had small ears and were very susceptible to foliar diseases. The first local hybrids had white kernels while consumers demanded yellow ones. Now that a composite variety with yellow kernels and large ears has been developed and has been found acceptable by consumers, production can be envisaged. Experimental results show that it is possible th produce 55000 ears per ha. With the current farmgate price of MUR 1.50 per unit and a cost of production of MUR 25000 per ha, sweetcord production could be profitable. Research is till needed to increase resistance to ear worms and uniformity in ear-size. Other developments could include industrial processing into shelled frozen or canned kernels for the domestic market. | |
| SWEET CORN ZEA MAYS PRODUCTION | |
| MAURITIUS | |
| Agricultural diversification | |
| Maize: Sweet corn | |
| 1997-09-26 | |
| En | |
| LIB | |
| CAT | |
| FC |