Maize holds a prominent position in Indian Agriculture. The increasing use of maize as animal feed, increasing interest of the consumers in nutritionally enriched products and rising demand for maize seed are the driving forces behind emerging importance of maize crop in India. As per the available evidences, a decade ago just 5-6% of maize was used for industrial purpose and approx 50% for feed meal, which has now increased considerably.
Maize is also playing an important role in the crop diversi¬fication policy of various states. Government of India has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversi¬fication to help farmers look beyond paddy, which consumes huge amount of water, fertilizer and power. With a view to encourage farmers to grow more maize, the Government has ¬fixed the MSP of maize for 2013-14 crop season at Rs. 1,310 per quintal, which is same as that for common paddy.
India is also a prominent player in world maize market. In the year 2012-13, export of maize reached a record 5 million tonnes which was 24% higher compared to the previous year. Despite this signi¬ficant progress, there are concerns on supply – demand issues in Maize. Indian maize crop, despite occupying large area under cultivation has low productivity. This calls for building effective partnerships among stakeholders to encourage new productivity enhancing technologies through R& D and also dissemination of such technologies across the entire value chain to create required impact.
As the market demand for maize increases in India, it becomes logical to invest more time in identifying, examining and suggesting reforms in key areas of maize value chain. After the success of the ¬first edition of the India Maize Summit, FICCI in association with NCDEX announces the second edition of India Maize Summit in 2014.