🌽 Maize

Package of practices for cultivation of Maize and other important concepts and facts.

Basics

  • Botanical name: Zea mays
  • Family: Poaceae
  • Origin: Central America & Mexico
  • Chromosomes: 2n = 20
  • Area: China
  • Production: USA > China
  • Productivity: USA
  • In India, maize is the third most important food crop after rice and wheat.
  • Highest production is in Karnataka (2018-19)
  • Maize is known as the Queen of Cereals/ Backbone of America, because has the highest genetic yield potential.
  • Maize Productivity in India is 26 q/ha as against 120 q/ha in USA and 55 q/ha in China.

QPM is an improved variety of maize which contains higher amount of “tryptophan” and “lysine” with lower amount of leucine and isoleucine in the endosperm than those contained in normal maize.

  • Maize is a cross pollinated crop.
  • Maize contains 65 to 70 % starch, 8-10% protein (Zein) and 4-5% oil.

Climate

  • Maize is warm weather crop, grow form sea level to 3000 meter altitude.
  • Kharif season is the main growing season in North India.
  • Rabi Maize is extensively grown in Bihar.
  • Most suitable temperature for germination and growth is 21-23ºC and 30-35ºC, respectively.
  • Maize crop requires 600-800 mm rainfall for proper growth.
  • Maize is a Day Neutral plant.

Soil

  • Maize is best adapted to well drained sandy loam to silty loam soil.
  • Very sensitive to water logging (does not float of water more than 4-5 hours).
  • It can be grown successfully in soils whose pH ranges from 5.5 to 7.5.
  • Ridge and farrow method – ridge should be 6 m long.

Botany

  • Male Inflorescence: Tassel: The terminal male flower cluster are called tassel.
  • Female Inflorescence: Silk: The style is a very long silky filament, bears the female hairy cluster of which is known as silk.
  • Protoandry: Male inflorescence appears first.

Maize species: (Sturtevant, 1899)

Varieties of Different Maize Type

  • Fodder Maize: African tall, J1006
  • Sweet Corn: Composite Madhuri, Composite Priya
  • Pop Corn: Amber pop, V L Amber Pop, Pearl pop corn
  • Baby Corn: Prakash, Parvati, VL 42,
  • Quality Protein Corn
  • Quality Protein Maize (QPM) varieties released by using Opaque-2 genes.
  • Varieties: Shaktiman 1 & 2, HQPM 1, Sakti 1, Proteina, Ratan etc.
  • Flood prone area: Diara
  • Drought resistant: Prakash, Megha
  • Hybrid varieties:
    • Yellow seeded: Ganga-1, 3, 5, 101, Ranjit, Himalaya, VL-54
    • White seeded: Ganga safed-2, High starch, Ganga-4

Seed Rate

  • Composite: - 15 to 20 kg/ha
  • Hybrid: 20 to 25 kg/ha
  • Baby Corn: 25 kg/ha
  • Fodder Maize: 40 to 50 kg/ha
  • Spacing: 60 X 20-25 cm.
  • Plant Population: 60-65 thousand.
  • Germination: Hypogeal
  • The root system of maize is Fibrous and deep. It is usually well developed.
  • It consists of:
    • Seminal roots
    • Crown roots
    • Brace or Prop roots

Nutrient Management

  • Hybrid: 120 : 50 : 40 kg/ha
  • Composite: 100 : 40 : 30 kg/ha
  • Critical stages for irrigation – Tasseling and Silking

Yield

  • Hybrid: 50 – 60 qt/ha of grain.
  • Composites: 40-50 q/ha
  • Fodder: 300-400 q/ha
  • Average yield (India): 27.5 q/ha.

Sweet Corn

  • Harvesting in Sweat corn is done 2-3 days after silking. UPPSC 2021

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