As more farmers eye maize crop, the planting of the coarse cereal crop has seen an increase of 15 per cent across the country till the third week of July. Per the Agriculture Ministry data as of July 21, maize has been planted on nearly 71.21 lakh hectares (lh) this year compared to 61.73 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
The increase in acreage has been witnessed across almost all States. In Karnataka, the largest producer of maize during the kharif season, planting till July 18 has increased to 15.23 lh (13.87 lh). Similarly, in Rajasthan, the area has increased to 9.34 lh till July 21 compared to 9.01 lh registered during the same period last year. In Telangana, the maize area as on July 16 stood at 4.49 lh (2.89 lh), while in Maharashtra it was 12.35 lh (9.75 lh) as of July 14. However, in Gujarat, the maize area was lower at 2.19 lh as on July 21 against last year’s 2.74 lh, as farmers are seen planting more groundnut.
Rahul Chauhan of iGrain India said farmers are increasing the area under maize as the demand for the cereal crop is strong from both feed and ethanol makers. Farmers have got good prices for maize in the past two years compared to other crops like soyabean and pulses and as a result, they are showing more preference to plant the cereal crop, he said.
The area under maize is seen increasing across almost all States including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana and even in parts of Western Uttar Pradesh among others as a section of farmers are seen shifting from crops such as soyabean, tur and cotton. Chauhan said going by the sowing trend, the area under maize will touch a new high this kharif cropping season.
Maize acreage during the kharif 2024 season touched a record 84.30 lh. Including the Rabi area of 27.24 lh and summer area of 8.4 lh, the total acreage under the cereal crop stood at 120.17 lh. Maize production during 2024-25 increased to 42.28 million tonnes — up from 37.66 million tonnes in the previous year.
Strong offtake
“The increase in maize production on account of higher area will be covered up by the demand from the livestock sector, which is witnessing a growth of 8-10 per cent,” said Divya Kumar Gulati, Chairman, CLFMA of India. Gulati said India has already emerged as a net importer of maize during the last financial year on growing demand for the cereal from not only the feed and starch sector but also from the ethanol producers.
India’s maize production has nearly doubled over the past 10 years from around 225.67 lakh tonnes during 2015-16 to a record 422.81 lakh tonnes during 2024-25.
Despite a record production, India became a net importer of maize last fiscal as the domestic demand from sectors such as feed, ethanol and starch has outpaced the supplies.
India’s maize imports touched 9.7 lakh tonnes during 2024-25 — a six-fold increase over the previous year’s 1.37 lakh tonnes.
Published on July 22, 2025
