NATIONAL 9 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Commercial Corn

From traditional Dhedo to munchy popcorns, the maize has become a commercially important crop

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Nepalis love corn. In rural areas, they consume it in the form of dhedo (maize meal). In Kathmandu and other urban centers, the choice ranges from cornflakes to popcorn. Five hundred years after Christopher Columbus became one of the first Europeans to set eyes on it, corn has spread across Nepal’s diverse terrain.

Women selling corn : Popular tifin

"It is the taste of the corn and the paste of salt, green chili, ginger that attract me," says Saloni Silwal of Swayambhu. But others are less enthusiastic about the roasted fare available on the roadside. "They use left-overs from funeral pyres because there is a shortage of coal," warns 21-year-old Aditya Aryal of Hadigaon. "I prefer to take the corn home and boil it."

"It is safe to eat the roasted corns sold in the streets because the coal is immune to harmful bacteria," says Dr. Sameer Gharti. "It is the disgust of eating something roasted from the remains of funeral pyres that puts people off."

Popcorn has become popular in Kathmandu. Devendra Gurung, a shopkeeper near the Gopi Krishna Cinema hall in Chabahil, says: " It’s one of the widely sold items in my shop. Most of the customers are couples who like to munch a bag of popcorn with the movie."

Streets vendors like Dil Bahadur Gurung in New Road are doing brisk business with their popcorn carts. Naushad Ullah of Dilli Bazar is among the regular buyers. "I usually go to New Road to buy newspapers and get drawn by the aroma of popping corn.

Making popcorn to perfection is an art or sorts. "The quality depends on a number of factors," says biologist Layla Piya. "Generally, the more a popcorn variety expands after popping, the better the quality, as a greater volume produces a better texture. Most commercial varieties will expand 30-40 times their volume. Moisture content, drying procedure, and amount of damage to the pericarp and endosperm also affect expansion. Other factors affecting quality include flavor, tenderness, absence of hulls, color, and shape."

Hamama Maharjan, a farmer from Sano Thimi, sees the commercial prospects of the crop. "White dent corn often receives a premium price from the dry-milling industry since yields are somewhat less than those of the yellow-dent corn hybrids," he says. "While the foliage and stalks of dent corn can be used to make a number of products, including silage and corn syrup, the kernels make dent corn an economic treasure."

Processed corn products are diverse, including cooking oil and various corn grits, meals, flours, and starches. Corn starches can be processed further into a variety of food and non-food products including fat substitutes, sweeteners, alcohol, paper, adhesives, paints, soaps, cosmetics, dynamite, tires, and oil-drilling materials.

"Corn is also used as a nutrient medium in making antibiotics like tetracycline, penicillin, neomycin, bacitracin, and streptomycin. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and cobalmide (Vitamin B12) are two major vitamins produced from the fermentation of corn steep liquor and dextrose. Other important corn fermentation products include citric acid, glutamic acid, lactic acid, and lysine," says Dr. Gharti.

Sani Maya Magar of Raniban, Nuwakot, sits every morning on the pavement at Kalanki tending her baby and selling corn. "I earn about 150 rupees a day selling roasted corn. Some of the corn comes from our own land but we also buy it from other villagers. And we have to pay 50 rupees per day for the coal." And where does she get the coal? "I have a contract with the bakery shops and brick kilns."

"The land at our village does not yield enough to feed us around the year. Besides, there is a sense of insecurity," she says. "My husband and I came to Kathmandu in search of a better life. We have to pay 800 rupees a month in house rent in Kalanki. My husband works as a porter. "I want to give my children a better life I don’t know how we are going to support them."

Such grains of truth might goad agriculture planners to find ways of harnessing the commercial prospects of corn both in terms of roadside business and national revenue receipts.