The slides containing all the information about improved method of maize cultivation. it includes the introduction, uses, importance, soil and climatic requirement, seed and sowing, seed treatment, methods of sowing, fertilizer management, water management, weed management, intercultural operation, harvesting, yield potential etc. This will be quite help full for the students, academicians, faculty members of Agriculture section.

1. Agrotechniques
of Maize

2. • Local Name – Makka
• Family- Poaceae
• Origin - Mexico

3. Introduction
• Maize (Zea mays ) is one of the most versatile emerging crops
having wider adaptability under varied agro-climatic conditions.
Globally, maize is known as queen of cereals because it has the
highest genetic yield potential among the cereals.
• In India, maize is the third most important food crops after rice
and wheat. It is cultivated in 8.7 M ha mainly during Kharif season
which covers 80% area.
• Maize in India, contributes nearly 9 % in the national food basket
and more than Rs. 100 billion to the agricultural GDP at current
prices apart from the generating employment to over 100 million
man-days at the farm and downstream agricultural and industrial
sectors

4. Uses
• Though it is mainly used as a food crop in India by the rural
population in the form of bread and gruel, it has vast industrial
potentialities as well having many as 50 different uses
• It can be put to the manufacture of starch, syrup, alcohol, acetic
acid, lactic acid, glucose, paper, rayon, plastic, textiles, adhesives,
dyes, synthetic rubber, resin, artificial leather, boot polish etc., Corn
oil is 4%.
• Green ears find a ready market in the urban areas. The grain is
ground into flour for making bread. Maize is being used as a poultry
and cattle feed. Stover, whether green or dry is fed to the cattle.
• QUALITY Grain contains: Protein- 10% Oil – 4% Carbohydrates –
70% ,Fiber – 3 to 5% Minerals – 2%

5. Origin And Distribution
• Origin of maize plant is still not definitely known, probably because
of its wild relatives having become extinct during the long period
of cultivation.
• Geographical origin of maize is said to be somewhere in tropical
zone of South America, probably in the South western part of the
Amazon river basin(Mexican region).
• Among cereals maize crop occupies 3rd place in the world after
wheat and rice. Nearly 54% of the total area is located in South
America, Asia and Africa.

6. • The maize is cultivated throughout the year in all states of the
country for various purposes including grain, fodder, green cobs,
sweet corn, baby corn, pop corn in peri-urban areas.
• The predominant maize growing states that contributes more than
80 % of the total maize production are Andhra Pradesh (20.9 %),
Karnataka (16.5 %), Rajasthan (9.9 %), Maharashtra (9.1 %), Bihar
(8.9 %).Hence, the maize has emerged as important crop in the
non-traditional regions i.e. peninsular India as the state like Andhra
Pradesh

7. • CLASSIFICATION OF MAIZE TYPES:
• It is done on basis of kernel characteristics into 7 types –
Dent corn (Zea mays var. indentata)
• This is the most common type grown in SA and USA. It contains both hard
and soft starch. Hard starch stands on side and soft starch is in centre.
Dent formation on the top of the kernel having yellow or white colour.
The depression or dent in the corn of the seed is the result of rapid drying
and shrinkage.
Flint corn (Zea mays var. indurate)
• It is widely grown and cultivated in India. Endosperm of kernel is soft and
starchy in the centre and completely enclosed by a very hard outer layer.
The kernel is rounded on the top. The colour may be white or yellow.
Grown in Europe, Asia, central America and South America.

8. Popcorn (Zea mays var. everta)
• It posses exceptional qualities. Size of kernels is small but the
endosperm is hard. When they are heated, the pressure build up within
the kernel suddenly results in an explosion and the grain is turn out.
Grains are used for human consumption and is the basis of popcorn
confectionery. Its cultivation is mainly confined to new world.
Soft corn ((Zea mays var. amylacea)
• It possess a soft endosperm. Kernels are soft and though all
coloured corns are grown but white & blue are the most common.
Kernel is easily grounded in powder form. Grown in USA & S. Africa.

9. Sweet corn (Zea mays var. Sachharata)
• The sugar and starch makes the major component of the endosperm that
results in sweetish taste of the kernels before they attain the maturity and
after maturity, the kernels become wrinkled. The cobs are picked up green
for canning and table purpose. Mainly grown in North half of the USA.
Pod corn: (Zea mays var. tunicate)
• Each kernel is enclosed in pod. It is a primitive type of corn and hence
of no importance. Mostly used for breeding purpose.
Waxy corn (Zea mays var. ceratina)
• The endosperm of the kernel when cut or broken gives a waxy
appearance. It produces the starch similar to tapioca starch for making
adhesive for articles. It is also used for breeding purpose.

10. Climatic requirement
•Maize is a tropical plant which prefers warm humid
weather
•It can be successfully grown where the night temperature
does not go below 150C. It cannot with stand frost at any
stage of growth. Optimum temperatures for germination
is 210C and for growth is 320C.
• Min :-90C optimum:-320C Max: – 460C
•600 mm rainfall with even distribution is sufficient for
good cultivation.

11. Soil
• Maize can be grown successfully in variety of soils ranging from loamy sand
to clay loam. However, soils with good organic matter content having high
water holding capacity with neutral pH are considered good for higher
productivity.
• Being a sensitive crop to moisture stress particularly excess soil moisture and
salinity stresses; it is desirable to avoid low lying fields having poor drainage
and also the field having higher salinity. Therefore, the fields having provision
of proper drainage should be selected for cultivation of maize.
• Therefore, it has adapted mainly in areas having sandy loam soils and sub
humid climate. To some extent, the crop is cultivated in areas having semi
arid climate provided the soils are deep with heavy texture. The optimum pH
range of soil for maize is 6.5- 7.5.

12. • Variety-
• Composite - Vijaya, Jawahar, Navjot, Naveen, Shakti etc
Hybrid - Ganga 11, Ganga 5, Ganga 9, Rajendra hybrid 1, Decan 109,
Ganga Safed II,. , Kargil-633
• Sweet corn varieties are Madhuri, Sumadhuri, MadhuriMoti, Priya
sweet corn.

13. Seed Bed Preparation [Land Preparation]
• At least 2-3 shallow tillage
operations are essential in all maize
growing areas. Deep ploughing is
also helpful to control weeds and
for efficient moisture conservation
similarly bed and furrow or ridge
and furrow systems are suitable in
semi arid and sub humid regions.
In high rainfall regions ill drainage
reduces the yields.

14. Land Preparation Photos

15. Seeds And Sowing
To protect the maize crop from seed and major soil
borne diseases and insect-pests, seed treatment with
fungicides and insecticides before sowing is advisable.
It is desirable to dibble the maize seed by the side of
the ridges at a distance of 1/3 from the top of the
ridge.
Dibble seed 3-4 cm deep and should not be more
than 5 cm. Ridge sowing facilitated irrigation as well
as drainage.

16. • Seed treatment
•
• Use pelleted seeds with insecticides (treat one kg of seeds with
Chlorpyriphos 20EC or Monocrotophos 36 WSC or Phosalone 35 EC @
4 ml + 0.5 gram gum in 20 ml of water) for the control of stem borer
or seed treatment with Imidacloprid 70 WSC 10 ml/kg of seeds.
• Seed treatment with Metalaxyl or Thiram @ 2 g/kg of seed for the
control of downy mildew and crazy top.
• Seeds treated with fungicides may be treated with three packets (600
g/ha) of Azospirillum before sowing.

17. Seed Sowing Photos

18. Management Pratices
•Seed Rate – 20Kg/ha
•Spacing - Adopt a spacing of 25 cm
between plants in the rows which are
60 cm apart
•Required seed – 15-20 kg/ha

19. Nutrient Management
• FYM- 10-20 t/ha
• Nutrient Dose- 120 : 60 : 40 :: N : P2O5 : K2O per ha (Hybrid)
• 80 : 40:40 40 :: N : P2O5 : K2O per ha for composite variety
Time N P2O5 K20 Zinc sulphate
Basal 30 kg 60 kg 40 kg 25 kg
30DAS 60 kg 0 0
50DAS 30 kg 0 0

20. Germination
• Germination started 6-8days after sowing
• 75% germinations was encountered.

23. Weeding
To maintain Optimum
plant population and
reduce crop weed
competition
Encourage plant vigor
Enhance efficient
nutrient uptake

24. Weed control
 Yield losses of more than 15-100% due to weeds have been reported
from weed control experiments.
 It is necessary to keep the crop weed-free during the first 6-7weeks
after sowing.
 Cultural practices :
 Adopting proper crop rotation practices reducing the weed
competition in maize crop.
 Intercropping also helps in smothering the weeds with good crop
cover over the land surface.
 Mulching the soil surface helps to suppress the weeds and also help
in conserving the soil moisture.

25. Thinning and gap filling
If two seeds were sown, leave only one healthy and vigorous
seedling per hole and remove the other on the 12-15 days
after sowing.
Where seedlings have not germinated, dibble pre-soaked
seeds at the rate of 2 seeds per hole and immediately irrigate.
Hoeing, hand-weeding and earthing-up
Hoeing and hand-weeding on the 3rd and 6th week of sowing.
Earth up and form new ridges so that the plants come directly
on the top of the ridges. This will provide additional
anchorage to the plants.

26. Chemical control :
Pre-emergence application :
It applied after sowing but before emergence of seedling.
- Atrazine (0.5-1.0 kg a.i./ha)
- Simazine (0.5 -1.0 kg a.i./ha)
Post-emergence application :
In case of severe infestation.
Low rates of 2,4-D (0.8-1.02kg a.i./ha) may be applied when the plants are about 30 cm
tall.

27. Water Management
• Maize crop is sensitive to both moisture stress and excessive
moisture, hence regulate irrigation according to the requirement.
Ensure optimum moisture availability during the most critical
phase (45 to 65 days after sowing); otherwise yield will be
reduced by a considerable extent. Regulate irrigation according to
the following growth phase of the crop. Critical stages are, 6th
leaf, late knee high, tasselling, 50% silking and dough stages. Of
which, tasseling and silking are most critical stages and water
stress during these stages reduces the maize yields considerably.
About 600-700 mm is needed for 100 days crop.

28. Vegetative Stage

29. Irrigation

30. Tassel

33. Corn
Silk

34. Cob Formation

35. Harvesting
•Hybrids of maize mature within 90-110 days.
•Cover turns pale brown and the grains are too hard
to be pressed in with finger nail.
•The cobs may be harvested at about 20% grain
moisture. The plants may remain green when the
cobs are dry and ready for harvest. Therefore do not
wait for stalks to dry up for harvesting. This is
desirable as such plants can be used as fodder.

36. • Threshing cobs: Dry the cobs under the sun till the grains are dry. Use
mechanical threshers or by running the tractor over dried cobs to
separate the grains from the shank. Clean the seeds by winnowing.
Collect and store the dry grains in gunnies.
•
• Stalk for cattle feed: Maize straw can also be used as a good cattle
feed when it is green. Harvest the crop and cut the green straw into
bits with a chaff cutter or chopping knife and feed the cattle.

37. • Yield
• 5 t of grain yield and 10 t/ha of straw yield can be obtained.
• In case of Baby corn, about 6 t/ha of cob yield with 25 t/ha of green
fodder yield is possible.

38. Thank You