The country has te potential to double maize production to 86 million tonne (MT) by 2047 from the current level of over 42 MT through development of high yielding non-genetically modified (GM) seed varieties with higher starch content, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Monday.
“We don’t use genetically modified seeds, but we can still raise the productivity levels,” Chouhan said at the 11th maize summit organised by industry association FICCI.
The agriculture minister’s statement comes as the United States under the proposed trade deal had asked India to cut import duty on several commodities including maize.
In addition the US is seeking access for its GM products especially soybean and maize, agriculture minister Chouhan has conveyed its reluctance to allow these transgenic crops citing several concerns about safety issues.
Currently, imports of maize are subject to 61% duty.
Chouhan stressed the need to increase the average maize yield from current level of around 3.7 tonne/hectare while states including West Bengal and Bihar are reporting more productivity than the national average.
The agriculture minister suggested crop diversification from paddy to maize in Punjab and Haryana as a step towards boosting output.
While stating that there is a need to increase starch level in maize to over 72% from the current level of 65%-70% so as to boost its utility, Chouhan said more research work is needed to boost output.
He stated that the Indian Council for Agricultural Research has released 265 maize varieties – including hybrid and bio-fortified varieties.
Chouhan noted that maize prices, which had previously fallen below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs. 2,400/quintal, have started rising due to the government’s ethanol blending target of 20% by 2025–26.
On the concern about the rising animal feed cost to rise in maize prices, Chouhan said,”let the farmers get their due prices, we will address your concerns separately as our focus must be on boosting output,”.
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar are the major maize producing states. The maize production rose by 34% to 42.28 MT in 2024-25, from 31.64 MT in 2020-21.
The crop grown in kharif, rabi and summer seasons and is largely used as animal feed, raw material for the manufacturing of ethanol and textile and for food purpose.
Meanwhile, in a first of its kind initiative to create robust agri-value chains through PPP model, the agriculture ministry has approved a proposal of Ninjacart, a key agri-supply chain player for developing a maize cluster in Uttar Pradesh.
Ninjacart aims to procure 25,000 tonne of maize annually from over 10,000 farmers part of a cluster in five districts of Uttar Pradesh under the public private partnership for agriculture value chain development (PPPAVCD) initiative of the agriculture ministry in collaboration with states, sources said.
The private entity would supply maize to ethanol plants.