The 11th India Maize Summit held in New Delhi focused on scaling up maize production and improving the entire value chain through research, sustainable practices, and farmer outreach.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid out a vision to double maize output to 86 million tonnes by 2047.

Key Points:

• The summit was inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 7, 2025, emphasizing “farmers’ service as the core mantra” of government policy.
• India’s maize production has risen from 10 million tonnes in the 1990s to 42.3 million tonnes today, with a national goal of reaching 86 million tonnes by 2047.
• The ICAR-IIMR is developing new high-yielding maize hybrids to boost rabi productivity to 10–11 tonnes/ha and kharif productivity to 7–8 tonnes/ha.
• The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan has deployed over 11,000 scientists to thousands of villages to strengthen the lab-to-farm linkage and support maize growers.
• The maize roadmap includes expanded use for ethanol blending (E30 target), poultry feed, biodegradable plastics, and converting paddy-growing lands in states like UP, Bihar, and Punjab for sustainable maize farming.