Corn in Indonesia is one of the important cereal crops in Indonesia, apart from being a staple food crop substitute for rice in an effort to diversify food, corn is also an animal feed.
Nutritional Content of Corn
Contents
Corn has the nutritional content per 100 grams of the following ingredients:
- Calories: 355 Calories
- Protein: 9.2 gr
- Fat: 3.9 gr
- Carbs: 73.7 gr
- Calcium: 10 mg
- Phosphorus: 256 mg
- Iron: 2.4 mg
- Vitamin A: 510 SI
- Vitamin B1: 0.38 mg
- Water: 12 grams and 90% digestible portion.
Benefits of Corn
Corn has many benefits for the body because of its nutritional content, among which is it can reduce hypertension so that it can prevent heart disease. Corn can control diabetes, improve digestion, prevent constipation and hemorrhoids because corn is rich in fiber, and can even reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Corn also contains most of the magnesium, copper iron, and most importantly the content of phosphorus which is good for bone health, this nutrient not only prevents bone fractures due to age but also improves kidney function. Vitamin C, carotenoids, and bioflavonoids present in corn can also keep the heart healthy by controlling cholesterol levels and increasing blood flow in the body.
Types of Corn in Indonesia
The types of maize developed in Indonesia are hybrid maize, composite maize, and transgenic maize. Hybrid maize is the first descendant of a cross between two parents who have superior character/traits.
Shull (1908) was the first to discover that the result of the self-crossing of maize resulted in inbreeding depression, and the crossing of two homozygous parents produced a very vigorous F1.
Composite maize or commonly known as local maize is a type of maize grown in ancient times by local farmers who self-pollinated without human assistance. Transgenic maize is a type of maize that results from the insertion of genes such as disease-resistant genes, pest-resistant genes, or chemical drug-resistant genes from living or non-living things so that the plant becomes a super plant.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Corn in Indonesia
The advantages and disadvantages of hybrid maize, composite maize, and transgenic maize among others Hybrid maize has a high production rate, reaching 8-12 tonnes per hectare. The drawback is that hybrid maize cannot be used as a seed for replanting because its production will decrease by up to 30%, this creates dependence on farmers for hybrid maize seeds, besides that the price of hybrid maize is much more expensive. Examples of hybrid maize varieties are Pioneer and BISI.
The advantages of composite maize are short life, resistance to pests and diseases can be planted repeatedly so that it does not cause farmer dependence. The disadvantage of composite maize is the low production rate of only 3-5 tonnes per hectare. Examples of composite maize are Arjuna, Bisma, Gajah Mas, and Quickly Rante.
Transgenic maize has the advantage of having a large production capacity of around 8-10 tons per hectare, disease resistance, certain pest resistance, and chemical resistance, but GMO corn also has disadvantages, such as corn seeds that have to be bought in stores because they cannot be produced by farmers, it can cause pests. New diseases that are more resistant to chemical drugs, causing new diseases for livestock and humans and causing damage to the soil. Examples of transgenic maize varieties are BT maize, Terminator maize, and RR-GA21 maize.
Corn Cultivation Techniques in Indonesia
Several corn cultivation techniques that can be applied to obtain satisfactory results can be carried out in the following steps: The first thing that must be done is to use certified quality superior seeds to ensure the quality and quantity of corn to be produced.
Land processing is necessary to loosen the soil, namely to provide air circulation in the soil and remove pests or diseases that are in the soil and then clean the soil from weeds. Soil pH suitable for planting corn is 5.6 – 7.7.
Making the beds is needed to prevent the plants from falling, the beds are made 70-100 cm wide and 10-20 cm high, the length is adjusted to the conditions and the contour of the land. In dry areas, the height of the beds should be lowered to facilitate watering, because too high will require a lot of water during watering. To prevent or kill pests in the beds, sprinkle the insecticide Furadan 3G evenly at a dose of 10-20 kg/hectare of land.
Planting of maize is arranged with the spacing in one row about 20 cm, while the spacing between rows is 70-75 cm. If the beds are 2 meters wide, there will be at least 3 rows of corn plants in one bed, then put 2 seeds of corn in one planting hole, the depth of the planting hole is usually 3-5 cm.
The most effective application of fertilizer is in conjunction with soil processing so that the fertilizer given will be evenly mixed with the soil in the land, but can also make planting holes. Fertilizer needs are adjusted to the area of land used, as a benchmark, for one hectare of planting land, 20-40 tons of fertilizer is given. The fertilizer used can be in the form of manure and NPK. The manure that is given must be ripe, namely dry, odorless, crumbly in texture, and loose.
Maintenance of Corn in Indonesia
Maintenance of corn by watering and controlling pests and diseases. There are 5 phases of maize growth that require watering, namely the initial growth phase, the vegetative growth phase, the flowering phase, the seed filling phase, and the maturation phase. Corn can be harvested around 100 DAS, depending on the type of seed used. Physically, the corn that is ready for harvest can be seen from the dried, yellowish leaf of the klobot.
