Maize is largely grown in north India. High­est concentration of the crop is found in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab which together account for two-third of the total area and output of the crop.

In South India Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states are the major producers of maize in the county. Madhya Pradesh ranks first in the production of maize in the country, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. These six states together ac­count for over 67 per cent of the total area and 66 per cent of the total production of maize in the country.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh accounts for 12.11 per cent of the total area and 8.14 per cent of the total production of maize in the country. During 1983-84 and 1995- 96 there has been slight decrease in the area and production of maize in the state. While the area has declined from a maximum of 12 lakh hectares in 1985-86 to a minimum of 10.68 lakh hectares in 1995-96; the highest and the lowest productions were obtained in 1984-85 (17.65 lakh tones) and 1983-84 (11.11 lakh tones). In Uttar Pradesh maize is largely grown in Bulandshahr, Farrukhabad, and Meerut. Bahraich, Gonda, Jaunpur, Etah, Mainpuri and Kheri districts.

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Bihar is the tenth largest producer of maize in India. The state contributes 4.21 percent of the total area and 4.32 per cent of the total production of maize in India. Although the maize area in the state has declined from 7.79 lakh hectares in 1983-84 to 2.65 lakh hectares in 2002-03 (decline by 65.98 %) the actual production has modest fall from 8.84 lakh tones in 1983-84 to 4.45 lakh tones in 2002-03. In Bihar maize is grown in the area north of the Ganga River. Munger, Saran, Champaran, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, and Bhagalpur, are the important pro­ducers of maize in the state.

Karnataka

Karnataka is the third largest producer of maize in the country (13.43% of India). The state records second highest per hectare yield (2129 kg) of maize in the country. There has been significant increase in the area and output of the crop between 1983-84 and 2000-01 (area from 1.66 lakh ha to 6.69 lakh ha at an annual rate of 17.8%; production from 4.5 lakh tones to 21.12 lakh tones at an average
annual rate of 21.7%). Here Belgaum, Chitradurga, Bijapur, Kolar, Bangalore and Mysore districts are the main producers.

Madhya Pradesh

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Madhya Pradesh occupies first place amongst maize producing states of the country (area 13.51 %, production 14.57%). Most of the production comes from Madhya Bharat Pathar with Indore, Ratlam, Ujjain and Jhabua district as major producers.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan with largest area of maize in the ountry (15.63%) occupies fourth place (8.44%) in the total production of the crop in the country due to its low per hectare yield (885 kg). Although there has “en slight increase in the area under maize between 1983-84 and 2002-03 (8.94 lakh ha to 9.83 lakh ha) Ihe production has recorded decline (from 12.30 lakh tonnes in 1983-84 to 8.70 lakh tonnes in 2002- 1)3). Most of the crop is grown in Udaipur, Dungarpur, Bhilwara, Banswara and Chittaurgarh districts.

Others

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Other important producers of maize in the Indian states include ; Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh (Kangra, Mandi and Chamba districts), Jammu and Kashmir (Udhampur, Doda, Jammu, Punch and Kathua districts), Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab (Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Patiala, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts), Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.

Trade

Much of the maize produced in India is con­sumed locally. About 2 lakh tones reach the whole­sale market within Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.