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In India, maize is the third most important food crops after rice and wheat. According to advance estimate its production is likely to be *2.*3 M Tonnes (******3) mainly during Kharif season which covers *0% area. Maize in India, contributes nearly 9 % in the national food basket. In addition to staple food for human being and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material as an ingredient to thousands of industrial products that includes starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, film, textile, gum, package and paper industries etc.

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.

All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on maize was launched in ***7 with the objective to develop and disseminate genetically superior cultivars and production/protection technologies. AICRP organizes interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, co-operative and systematic testing of newly developed cultivars of both public and private sectors for different agro-climatic zones of the country. The project resulted in refining efforts in varietal improvement. Since ***1, a total number of **7 cultivars including single cross hybrids, composites and multiple parent crosses have been released nationwide. In India, maize is traditionally grown in monsoon (Kharif) season, which is accompanied by high temperature (<*5° C) and rainfall. However, with the development of new cultivars and appropriate production technology, winter cultivation of maize has emerged as a viable alternative.