Maize contributes 2.4 percent value added in agriculture and 0.5 percent to GDP. During 2017-18, maize crop was cultivated on an area of 1,229 thousand hectares and witnessed decline of 8.8 percent over last year’s cultivated area of 1,348 thousand hectares. Maize crop production recorded a decline of 7.0 percent as its production stood at 5.702 million tons compared to the last year’s production of 6.134 million tons. The decline in production occurred due to decrease in area cultivates as maize growers switched over to cotton sugarcane and rice crops.
