India’s maize production in 2009-10 is expected to be almost 20 million tonne, up from 19.37 million tonne last year because of increased seed replacement by farmers and more acreage in Punjab and Haryana, a senior official with the Directorate of Maize Research on Tuesday said.

Maize, which is grown across the year, has been preferred by many farmers particularly in paddy growing regions because of remunerative price and requirement of less water in comparison to paddy. “With farmers using hybrid varieties the seed replacement rate has been constantly rising in maize growing regions,” Sangit Kumar, project director, DMR, under Indian Council for Agricultural Research told FE.

In 2008-09, maize was grown in 8.17 million hectare and total production was 19.73 million tonne.

However, in 2009-10, production declined marginally because of monsoon failure in key growing areas last year.

After introduction of single cross hybrid since 2006 by DMR, maize production has significantly increased. Kumar said cross hybrid adapts to varying soil and weather condition and it can withstand drought-like conditions as well.

There has been high growth of maize acreage in non-traditional states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal.

Andhra Pradesh is currently the largest producer of maize in India contributing 21% of the total annual production.

Around 80% of maize is produced during kharif season and rest during Autumn months. Maize price have been stable in the last few months, largely at around Rs 10,000 per tonne .

Maize acreage in Punjab this year is also expected to increase by about 1.50 lakh hectare to 2.82 lakh hectare this season. According to an agriculture ministry official, potential of maize as an high value farm export item has risen significantly in the last few years.

In 2008-09, Indian exported 3 million tonne of grain and 12,000 tonne of maize seed worth of Rs 2,400 crore and Rs 2,000 crore, respectively.

According to an estimate, around 61% of India’s maize output is used as poultry and cattle feed, while 12% is used by the starch industry.

Nearly 22% of maize produced in the country is used for human consumption, which has seen a rapid growth during last few years.