Engineers India Research Institute

Production of Maize

The total area under maize cultivation in the world is 139 million hectares with a production of 598 million MT ( mMT ). USA is the world's largest producer and exporter of maize with an out put of 240  mMT from an area of 29 million hectares. Other major producers are China (125 mMT), European Union (39 mMT), Brazil (37 mMT), Mexico (19 mMT), Argentina (14 mMT) and India (11 mMT). 

Among all cereals, maize occupies the fifth largest in area, fourth largest in output and third largest in yield. India is the tenth largest producer with a production of 11.10  mMT from an area of 6.6 million ha. The average yield in India is 1.77 MT/ha which is very low as against 7 MT/ha in temperate areas of developed economies and 3.8 MT/ha of global average. 

Maize is cultivated in almost all states in the country. Bihar is the leading producer in India followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. The crop is grown both in Kharif and Rabi seasons in India with a share of 85 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. 

In Himachal Pradesh, it is grown only in Kharif season, mainly under rain fed conditions. The total production of maize for the last three years in Himachal Pradesh is presented in Annexure I. The data indicate that maize is a major Kharif crop in Himachal Pradesh cultivated in an area of  3.0 lakh ha, which is over 70 per cent of the total cultivated area of 4.30 lakh ha. The average annual production in the state is over 6.0 lakh MT, which is more than 80 per cent of total Kharif production of 7.78 lakh MT of food grains.  As per a rough estimate based on a farm gate price of Rs.4/kg, the  produce of the State is worthRs. 240 crore per year.