Maize improvement in India - status and prospects. Sujay Rakshit

1. Sujay Rakshit
Director, ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana
Maize Improvement in India –
Status and Prospects

2. Share of major cereal crops in India

3. Usage Pattern of MaizeUsage Pattern of Maize
 Growth rate of different sectors:
Feed industry = 9% and Starch = 3-4%
 Projected requirement of maize by 2025 : ~50 mt

4. Maize Growth Trend in
India
• India represents 4% of global maize area and 2% of global
production
• India ranks 4th
in area and 7th
in production
Area : 2.7 times
Yield: 3.9 times
Prod : 10.2 times

5. Land Races DCH Compo/DTC/DC
DC/TWC/
SCH/Compo
SCHCompo
SCH/TWC/
DC/Compo
AICRPM 1957
Seed Policy
1988
Changes in Maize Area and Productivity

6. Changes in Area and Productivity in
Key Maize Growing States

7. AICRP on Maize Network
Total number of
centres
Regular 32
Voluntary 30
Total 62
Zone Centres
NHZ Srinagar, Kangra, Bajaura, Almora,
Barapani, Imphal, Gossaingaon
NWPZ Ludhiana, Karnal, Pantnagar, Delhi
NEPZ Baharaich, Varanasi, Dholi, Sabour, Ranchi,
Kalyani, Ambikapur, Bhubneshwar,
PZ Rahuri, Kolhapur, Karimnagar, Hyderabad,
Peddapuram, Dharwad, Mandya,
Coimbatore, Vagarai
CWZ Udaipur, Banswara, Godhara, Chhindwara

8. Maize Hybrids Released Since 2000
Sector/Types
Total no. of cultivars 237
40.5% 41.7% 17.7%
38.4% 29.5% 20.7% 11.4%

9. Maize Hybrids Released Since 2000
State wise

10. New Hybrids Released
DMRH1301
DMRH1308
DMRHP1402
IMHB1539
Hybrids
name
Types of
corn
Season Zone Maturity Yield
(t/ha)
DMRH1301 Field corn Rabi NEPZ, CWZ Medium 9.5
DMRH1308 Field corn Rabi CWZ Medium 9.0
DMRH1305 Field corn Kharif NHZ Early 6.0
DMHRHP1402 Popcorn Kharif NWPZ, CWZ Early 3.0
IMHB1539 Baby corn Kharif NHZ Early 1.8
IMHB1532 Baby corn Kharif NWPZ, CWZ Medium 2.0
Pusa super sweet corn -1
VL Baby corn 2

11. Sweet Corn Cultivars
Cultivar Type Year Zone Green cob
yield (t/ha)
Green fodder
yield
(q/ha)
Pusa Super Sweet
Corn -1
SCH 2018 NHZ, NWPZ,
NEPZ, PZ
14.6 220
Misthi SCH 2013 NHZ, NWPZ
and PZ
22.0 250
HSC 1 SCH 2010 All zones 17.0 220
Win Orange OPV 2005 NHZ 10.0 207
Priya OPV 2002 PZ 9.0 176
Madhuri OPV 1990 PZ 8.0 216

12. Baby Corn Cultivars
Green fodder
yield:
200 to 300
q/ha
Cultivar Nature of
cultivar
Centre Year Maturity Area of adaptation Average
dehusked BC
Yield (t/ha)
IMHB1532 SCH ICAR-IIMR 2018 Medium NPWZ, CWZ 2.0
IMHB1539 SCH ICAR-IIMR 2018 Early NHZ 1.8
VL
Babycorn 2
SCH VPKAS 2016 Early NHZ, NWPZ, PZ, CWZ 2.0
HM 4 SCH Karnal 2005 Medium Across the country 1.5
VL Baby
Corn1 (VL
78)
OPV Almora 2005 Extra-early Across the country 1.2
COBC 1 OPV Coimbatore 1999 Early Across the country 2.0
G5414,
G5417
CMS Hybrid Syngenta 2.0

13. Popcorn Cultivars
Genotype Popping
VL Popcorn 1 98.5%
BPCH-27 94%
VLAmber Pop corn 96%
KDPC-2 100%
Bajura Pop Corn-2 97%
DMRHP 1402 97%
VL Popcorn 98%
DMRHP1402

14. Fodder Maize Cultivars
❖ Tall plants and broad leaves
❖ Average green fodder yield is 400 q/ha
Cultivar Type Parentage Centre Year Maturity Area of
adoption
Partap Makka
Chari 6
OPV Compositing of
11 early to
medium white
seeded entries
MPUA&T,
Udaipur
2009 Medium Punjab,
Haryana,
Western
parts of
UP and
Rajasthan
African Tall OPV Selection from 7
varieties
MPKV,
Kolhapur
1983 Late Across the
country
J1006 OPV Makki Safed-1 x
Tuxpeno Planta
Baja CL
PAU,
Ludhiana
1992 Late Punjab

15. Breeding for abiotic stresses
tolerance
a
b
CMH 08-292;
PMH4;
DMRH1419 &
DMRH 1410
tolerant to
drought (3.5 -4.0
t/ha)
DMRH1419,
PMH3, & CMH
08-282 tolerant
to water logging
Well watered Drought stress
DMRH1419
Validation in farmers field through
demonstration
Water logging

16. Bio-fortified Maize
DivisionofGenetics,ICAR-IARI
First MAS-derived provitamin A rich QPM maize hybrid,
Pusa Vivek QPM 9 Improved released in India during
2017 Characters APQH9
Provitamin-A (µg/g) 8.15
% tryptophan in protein 0.74
% lysine in protein 2.67
Av. grain yield-NHZ (kg/ha) 5588
Potential yield-NHZ (kg/ha) 7968
Avg. grain yield-PZ (kg/ha) 5916
Potential yield-PZ (kg/ha) 9368
Maturity Extra early
Focus: QPM, provitaminA , vitaminE, Fe, Zn, low phytate
NHZ: Northern Hill Zone, PZ: Peninsular Zone

17. Crop Management
Kharif season (irrigated)
74-80k plants/ha
FYM@ 10t/ha 150:75:75 kg/ha
N:P2O5:K2O
Kharif season (rainfed)
66k plants/ha
FYM @ 10 t/ha + 120:40:40
kg/ha N:P2O5:K2O
Winter season (assured
ecosystem)
80-90k plants/ha
250:105:105 kg/ha N:P2O5:K2O
Five-split application of N

18. Increased Cropping Intensity
 Better choice of hybrids for
cultivation
 Spring and rabi maize
 Specialty corn
 Intercropping
 Vegetables
 Other crops
 Higher income
 Regular income
 Better soil health
 Risk mitigation
Up to 137% CI can easily be attained in maize based CS
Modified from OP Yadav

19.  Zero tillage gives maize
system productivity of 11.3–
12.9 t/ha with reduced water
requirement by 40–65 ha-mm
 ZT gives up to 31% higher net
returns with lower
production cost
 ZT improves soil health
 It is adopted in ~100 th ha of
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu
Conservation Agriculture in
Maize System

20. • With residue (WR) use in
agriculture:
Decreases canopy
temperature
Improved soil and crop
health
Wealth from waste
(Crop Residue Management)

21. Weed Management
Tembotrione @120 ml a.i./ha at 25 DAS as post-
emergence along with Atrazine as pre-emergence
application

22. Drip irrigation + CA
Water use efficiency
Surface irrigation : 30-35%
Sprinkler irrigation : 50-70%
Drip irrigation : 80-90%

23. Storage Pest Management
Through Plant Metabolites
 ‘Tanacetene’ from the leaves of
of I. coccinea @ 0.0036 mg/cm2
shows repellence
 A. conyzoides leaf powder @ 2%
w/w stored in High Density
and Double layered polythene
bags is quite effective
 4 h. Sun drying along with
application of E. indica leaf
powder @ 2% w/w proved
effective
Ixora coccinea
Ageratum conyzoides
Erythrina indica

24. Hybrid Seed Production
 Potential production
target 180 mt
 Hybrid seed deficit >40%
 Potential hybrid seed
market is over Rs. 3500
cr.
 Alternate seed
production sites
identified across country
 Parental line
productivity up to 3.5
t/ha

25. Value Addition in Maize
Value added foods from popcorn
Fermented maize foods
RTC foods
Baby corn candies &
dehydrated baby corn

26. Maize Ready to Cook Mixes

27. Skill Training in
Maize Product Preparation

28. ““MAIZY” ProductsMAIZY” Products

29. Block
year
Crop yield (k/ha)*
% Yield enhancement over
1986-90
Rice Wheat Maize Rice Wheat Maize
1986-90 1584 2066 1297 - - -
1991-95 1807 2388 1548 14 16 19
1996-00 1897 2603 1723 20 26 33
2001-05 1957 2679 1890 24 30 46
2006-10 2148 2775 2125 36 34 64
2011-15 2412 3042 2584 52 47 99
*Five-year means for grain yield and percent improvement in yield
overage yield of 1986-90 of principal food crops in India during 1985-2015
Impact on yield enhancement
Modified from OP Yadav

30.  Right priorities
 Higher emphasis on single cross hybrid
breeding
 Supportive policies
 Liberal seed policies
 Minimum support price
 Wider choice to farmers
 Invasion to non-traditional areas
 Incentive for more investment
by farmers
 Efficient seed delivery
mechanism
 Highly efficient seed production
system
 Involvement of private sector
Factors Leading to Maize Revolution
Modified from OP Yadav

31. Opportunities

32. Maize in Non-traditional Belt for Crop Diversification,Maize in Non-traditional Belt for Crop Diversification,
Risk Mitigation & Climate Change SolutionRisk Mitigation & Climate Change Solution
BH, GJ, MP,
RJ, JH, CH
Upland rice (Kharif)
OD, JH, MP
Rabi rice
WB, KA, AP, TN
Summer rice
PB, HR and WUP
Rising temperature
Lowering /scarcity of water
MH, KA
MP, MH
MH

33. Available Resources
 High throughput genotyping/
phenotyping
 Double haploid technology
 GIS maps
 QPM and other bio-fortified products
 Huge network of trained scientists
(AICRP strength Scientists: 40+91;)

34. Challenges

35. Major Maize growing districts
Kharif (Rainy) season
~83% area (80% rained)
Average yield 2.2 t/ha
Rabi (Winter) season
~17% maize area (largely irrigated)
Average yield 4.2 t/ha

36. Average 2.26 t ha-1
Min 0.31 t ha-1
Max 6.53 t ha-1
12
49
134
111
101
58
29
13
4 2
# Districts in different brackets (out of total = 514)
Here
we
are!
Here
we
are!
*District-wise mean yields for last three years (2013-14, 2014-15 & 2015-16)
Kharif Maize Productivity
A challenge or an opportunity?
Where
to
Focus
on???
Kharif yields of 514 districts*
PH Zaidi (CIMMYT)

37. Kharif districts with >25k ha maize area
but <2.2 t/ha productivity
States No. of dists
Madhya Pradesh 38
Uttar Pradesh 26
Jharkhand 20
Rajasthan 15
Chhattisgarh 14
Gujarat 12
Nagaland 11
Odissa 9
Bihar 8
Jammu & Kashmir 8
Arunachal Pradesh 7
Maharashtra 6
Himachal Pradesh 4
Assam 3
Manipur 3
Sikkim 3
Uttarakhand 3
Meghalaya 2
West Bengl 2
Andhra Pradesh 1
Mizoram 1
Telangana 1
Total 197

38. Mechanization in Maize
Maize dryer
Silo
Modified from Maize Vision 2022
Aflatoxin Rice weevil

39. Supply-Demand Economics of Maize
Adopted from Maize Vision 2022
 Storage facility (Silos)
 ‘Price Deficiency Payment’ (PDP)

40. Stresses of Concern in Maize
Biotic stresses Abiotic stresses
Diseases Insects
 BLSB
 PFSR
 TLB
 MLB
 Polysora rust
 SDM
 Bacterial stalk rot
 RDM
 BSDM
 Stem borer
 Pink borer
 Shoot fly
 FAW
 Drought
 Heat
 Water logging
 Cold
 Low N

41. Sujay Rakshit
Director, ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana
Fall armyworm – a potential
threat for the country

42. Tasks in Hand
 Enhancing rate of genetic gains
 Germplasm diversification
 Developing hybrid oriented germplasm
 Recycling of inbreds
 Using new tools and techniques
 Climate resilient hybrids
 Drought
 Water-logging
 High temperature
 More efficient breeding programmes
 Double haploids
 Genomics-assisted selection
 Disease resistance (BLSB, PFSR, SDM, Polysora rust…)
 Sustainable management of FAW and borers
 Nutritional traits
 QPM + Vitamin A, Low phytate, high methionine, Fe, Zn
 Partnership for germplasm exchange
 Enhancing resource use efficiency
Upscaling hybrid adoption