Common Maize Diseases in India and How to Fight Them
Most maize farmers track pests closely. FAW, stem borer, aphids — these get attention because the damage is visible. The larva in the whorl, the frass on the leaf, the dead heart — you see it and you react. Diseases are sneakier. They start quietly, spread in…
Waxy Corn and High Oil Corn: Emerging Varieties in India
India’s maize story is usually told in three chapters: field corn for feed, sweet corn for food, and baby corn for vegetables. But there are other chapters being quietly written — in ICAR breeding programmes, in specialty starch labs, in poultry nutrition research…
How Maize Is Used in the Poultry Feed Industry in India
Every time India’s broiler industry grows — and it is growing fast — someone, somewhere, needs more maize. That’s not a simplification. It’s the structural reality of how Indian poultry nutrition works. Maize is the energy foundation of virtually every commercial…
Drip Irrigation for Maize: Water Savings and Yield Gains
India grows more maize than almost any other country on earth. And increasingly, that maize is being grown with less water per kilogram than ever before — because more and more Indian farmers are switching from flood and furrow irrigation to drip. The numbers behind…
Baby Corn Stir Fry to Baby Corn Curry: 6 Quick Recipes
Baby corn is one of those ingredients that quietly does a lot of heavy lifting in Indian kitchens. It goes into Indo-Chinese dishes without a second thought. It shows up in restaurant menus as a starter, a gravy, a stir fry. It’s the vegetable in noodles that everyone…
Quality Protein Maize (QPM): The Nutrition Story No One Tells
There’s a version of maize that could help feed India more nutritiously — reduce child stunting, improve poultry feed efficiency, address protein malnutrition in tribal and rural communities — and most people in India have never heard of it. It’s called Quality…
How to Identify and Manage Fall Armyworm in Maize
If you grow maize in India, there’s one pest you should know better than any other. Fall armyworm — called Spodoptera frugiperda in scientific language, and informally known as FAW — arrived in India in May 2018 and has become the most feared maize pest in the country…
5 Healthy Sweet Corn Recipes You Can Make in 15 Minutes
Sweet corn has a way of making everything feel better. It’s the bhutta on the roadside on a rainy evening. The pop of colour in a salad. The thing that turns a bowl of poha from ordinary to something you look forward to. And somehow, despite how good it tastes, it’s…
Current Maize Prices in India: State-Wise MSP Breakdown
Here’s the uncomfortable reality about maize prices in India right now: the government’s Minimum Support Price for maize in 2025-26 is ₹2,400 per quintal. But in many mandis across the country, farmers are getting ₹1,600 to ₹1,900 per quintal — sometimes less. That’s…
Soil Preparation for Maize: Getting the Basics Right
Here’s something most farming guides don’t say plainly enough: the yield potential of your maize crop is largely determined before you even touch a seed. Variety selection matters. Fertiliser timing matters. Irrigation matters. But none of those inputs can compensate…
India’s Maize Export Potential: Opportunities and Challenges
There’s an interesting paradox at the heart of India’s maize story. India produces more maize than almost any country on earth — 43.41 million tonnes in 2024–25, a record high. It has two harvest seasons, giving it a supply window that most competitors can’t match….
Popcorn Farming in India: is it Profitable in 2026?
Every time someone buys a ₹200 box of popcorn at a multiplex — and millions of Indians do this every week — they’re participating in one of India’s fastest-growing snack markets. But very few people stop to think about where that popcorn actually starts: on a farm,…
Maize Hybrid vs Open-Pollinated Varieties: Pros and Cons
Every season, millions of Indian maize farmers face the same decision at the seed shop: do I buy the expensive hybrid, or go with the open-pollinated variety? The seed dealer usually has an opinion. Your neighbour has a different one. The internet gives you ten more….
Baby Corn Cultivation: Everything You Need to Know
Baby corn is one of those crops that makes you wonder why more Indian farmers aren’t growing it. It’s ready to harvest in just 55–65 days — faster than almost any other commercial crop. You can grow it year-round in most parts of India (except December and January)….
How to Grow Sweet Corn in India: A Step-by-Step Guide
Sweet corn is one of the most rewarding crops you can grow in India right now. It has a short growing cycle of just 70–80 days, earns significantly better returns per acre than field corn, and has a growing base of buyers — from local vegetable markets and hotels to…
Sweet Corn vs Field Corn: What’s the Real Difference?
Picture this. You’re driving past a maize field somewhere in Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh. Tall, green stalks stretching as far as you can see. Cobs peeking out from their husks. You pull over, pluck one out of curiosity, peel it back — and take a bite. If you’re…