International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Anant Kumar, Rashmee Yadav, Ankur Jhaa and Brij Vikas

abstract
Maize the “Queen of Cereals”, is one of the most important cereal crops in the world agriculture economy. It is mainly used as feed for animals followed by food for human and in industrial use as raw material. Maize is a third important cereal next to Paddy and Wheat in India. The total acreage under maize during 2017-18 is about 9.47 Mha Vis-a-Viz the acreage under Paddy and wheat is 43.79 Mha & 29.58 Mha respectively (Agriculture statistics at a Glance, 2019). India is the 7th largest producer of maize, while ranked 4th position in area. With increasing focus on water conservation, Maize has a huge potential to replace water consuming crops such as Paddy, Wheat and Sugarcane, as maize is a less water demanding crop and also have multiple utility as Food, Feed, Fuel and in Industries. Though this crop is emerging as potential candidate for increasing the farmers’ income and employment generation, the major issue of concern is that the average productivity in India is 2.6 MT/ha which is 130 percent less as compared to the world average. Majority of the farmers in India grow traditional maize varieties as it is suitable for consumption though, in the recent years, farmers continue to replace traditional cultivars with the newer higher-yielding hybrid varieties.