🌾 Maize Production Technology
Complete production guide for maize covering botanical features, varieties, nutrient and water management, IPM including fall armyworm, and post-harvest practices.
This lesson presents practical maize production technology from variety and sowing decisions to nutrient scheduling, protection, and post-harvest handling.
Importance of Maize
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the 3rd most important cereal crop globally after wheat and rice. India produces approximately 30 million tonnes (MT) of maize annually, making it a vital crop for food, feed, and industrial uses. Maize is uniquely versatile — used for human food, animal feed, starch extraction, corn oil, and increasingly as a feedstock for ethanol production. It is a C4 plant, giving it high photosynthetic efficiency, better water-use efficiency, and superior performance under high-light, high-temperature conditions compared to C3 crops like rice and wheat.
Botanical Classification
- Scientific name: Zea mays L.
- Family: Poaceae (Gramineae)
- Chromosome number: 2n = 20
- Pollination: Cross-pollinated (wind-pollinated); monoecious plant — tassel (male inflorescence) and ear/cob (female inflorescence) on the same plant
- The silk (style of female flower) must be pollinated by pollen from the tassel within 2–3 days for good grain set
- Endosperm: starchy (60–72% starch); high energy feed grain
Types of Maize
| Type | Endosperm | Key Use |
|---|---|---|
| Dent corn | Dent at top | Most common; grain and feed |
| Flint corn | Hard, flinty | Traditional food in developing countries |
| Popcorn | Very hard | Snack food; expands on heating |
| Sweet corn | Sugary (su gene) | Fresh vegetable consumption |
| Waxy corn | Waxy starch | Food industry (waxy starch) |
| Flour corn | Soft, floury | Ground into flour |
| Baby corn | Harvested before pollination | Tender vegetable; export crop |
| Quality Protein Maize (QPM) | High lysine + tryptophan | Nutritional improvement; opaque-2 gene |
Climate Requirements
- Temperature: 21–27°C optimum; minimum 10°C for germination
- Rainfall: 500–750 mm well-distributed; sensitive to drought at silking and grain filling
- Frost: Extremely frost-sensitive; avoid planting before last frost date
- Waterlogging: Highly intolerant — poorly drained soils lead to root asphyxiation and yield loss
- C4 photosynthesis gives superior performance under high light and temperature conditions
Soil Requirements
- Deep, well-drained loam is ideal
- pH: 6.0–7.5 (slightly acidic to neutral)
- Heavy waterlogged soils unsuitable
- Adequate organic matter (>1%) improves productivity
Varieties and Hybrids
Composite Varieties
- Ganga-5: Popular in Bihar, UP; medium-duration composite
- Vikram: Medium-duration composite; suitable for rainfed conditions
Hybrid Varieties
- HQPM-1 (Quality Protein Maize): Developed by IARI; high lysine, high tryptophan; nutritionally superior
- PEHM-2: High-yielding; suitable for kharif season
- Bio-9637: Private sector hybrid; high yield potential
Sweet Corn Hybrids
- MASH-1: Sweet corn hybrid developed by IARI
- Windows: Popular sweet corn hybrid for fresh market
Baby Corn
- VL Baby Corn 1: Developed by VPKAS, Almora; suitable for hill regions
Seed Rate and Spacing
- Hybrid: 20 kg/ha
- Composite: 25 kg/ha
- Spacing: 60×25 cm or 75×20 cm
- One plant per hill; hand planting or mechanized sowing at 2–4 cm depth
Sowing
- Kharif season: June–July (onset of monsoon)
- Rabi season: October–November (irrigated areas of south India)
- Seed treatment: Thiram 2g + Carbendazim 1g per kg seed (fungicide) + Azospirillum inoculant (N-fixing bacteria) + Imidacloprid 4 mL/kg (insecticide for shoot fly protection in seedling stage)
- Uniform sowing depth of 3–5 cm ensures uniform germination
Nutrient Management
- Recommended NPK: 120:60:40 kg/ha (high N requirement)
- Split N application is critical to avoid N loss and toxicity:
- Basal (at sowing): 25% N + full P + full K
- Knee-high stage (25–30 DAS): 50% N (most critical application)
- Tasseling stage (50–55 DAS): 25% N
- Zinc: Apply ZnSO₄ at 25 kg/ha as basal (zinc deficiency common in maize)
- FYM: 10–15 t/ha as basal application improves soil moisture and nutrient availability
Water Management
Critical Growth Stages for Irrigation
- Germination and establishment
- Knee-high stage (most important for vegetative growth)
- Tasseling and silking (most critical — drought here causes poor pollination and yield loss of 20–50%)
- Grain filling (dough stage)
- Dough stage
- Total irrigations: 5–6 under normal kharif conditions
- Avoid waterlogging at any stage — drain excess water immediately
Weed Management
- Critical weed competition period: First 30–35 days (DAS)
- Atrazine 0.5–1.0 kg ai/ha as pre-emergence herbicide (2–3 DAS); highly effective against grasses and broad-leaved weeds
- Inter-cultivation at 25 DAS (first earthing-up): controls weeds + aerates soil + encourages brace root development
- 2 hand weedings can substitute herbicide in small farms
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Major Pests
Fall Armyworm (FAW) — Spodoptera frugiperda
- New invasive pest first reported in India in 2018 (Karnataka); now pan-India
- Devastating pest of maize; larvae feed in whorls; characteristic "window pane feeding" and frass (sawdust-like pellets)
- Management: Early-stage NPV (nuclear polyhedrosis virus); Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 0.4 g/L; CABI biological control agents; neem-based sprays
- Chlorantraniliprole (Coragen) highly effective
Stem Borer (Chilo partellus)
- Dead heart in early stage; borer tunnels in stem
- Management: Trichogramma egg parasitoid release; Carbaryl 0.1% spray in whorl
Earworm (Helicoverpa armigera)
- Damages developing grains in ear
- Mineral oil application in silks; Quinalphos spray
Major Diseases
Turcicum Blight (Exserohilum turcicum)
- Cigar-shaped lesions on leaves; tan-colored
- Use resistant hybrids; Mancozeb spray
Downy Mildew (Peronosclerospora sorghi)
- Systemic; metalaxyl seed treatment 6 g/kg seed; white downy growth on leaf underside
Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN)
- Viral disease complex; emerging threat in East Africa; surveillance in India
Harvesting
- Duration: 95–105 days after sowing (varies by variety/hybrid)
- Harvest indicators: Husks turn dry brown; kernels hardened; black layer formation at kernel base; ear dry and pointing downward
- Moisture at harvest: 25–30%; must dry down before mechanical shelling
- Drying target: 12–14% moisture for safe storage
- Combine harvesting possible for large areas; manual cob harvesting + threshing in small farms
Post-Harvest Management
- Shelling: Mechanical shellers; hand shelling for small quantities
- Drying: Sun-drying or mechanical drying to 12–14% MC
- Storage: Cool, dry conditions; hermetic bags or metal silos; fumigation (aluminum phosphide) for long-term storage
- Aflatoxin contamination possible if stored at >14% moisture — major food safety concern
Yield Potential
- Composite varieties: 3–4 t/ha
- Hybrids: 5–6 t/ha average; up to 8–10 t/ha under optimum management
- Baby corn: 10–15 t/ha green baby corn equivalent
Maize Varieties — Summary Table
| Type | Variety/Hybrid | Yield (t/ha) | Special Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite | Ganga-5 | 3–4 | Early maturity, rainfed suitability |
| Composite | Vikram | 3–4 | Medium duration, field adaptability |
| Hybrid | HQPM-1 | 5–6 | Quality Protein Maize; high lysine |
| Hybrid | PEHM-2 | 5–6 | Kharif adapted, high yield |
| Hybrid | Bio-9637 | 6–8 | Private sector; high yield |
| Sweet corn | MASH-1 | 10–12 (green) | Fresh market, sweet flavour |
| Baby corn | VL Baby Corn 1 | 10–15 (green) | Hills adaptation, tender cobs |
Summary Cheat Sheet
| Area | Key Exam Point |
|---|---|
| Crop type | Maize is a C4 cereal with high productivity potential |
| Critical irrigation | Knee-high, tasseling-silking, and grain filling |
| Major pest | Fall armyworm management requires early integrated action |
References
2 sources • [1] [2]
References
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