Despite high price and demand, farmers not interested in maize

The domestic kharif maize output, which stood at nearly 20 million tonnes in 2017-18, dipped last year to below 19 MT

Growing corn consumption, coupled with remunerative market prices over the past few months, has not yet translated into higher maize acreage during the 2019-20 cycle, initial trends in the current kharif season suggested.
 
According to a preliminary report on kharif sowing on Friday (June 14), the area brought under maize crop during the week stood at only 300,000 hectare across India — 33 per cent lower compared to the corresponding acreage in 2018 at 4,50,000 hectares, which was the steepest among kharif crops like paddy, pulses, oilseeds and sugarcane.
 
Since domestic maize/corn prices had witnessed a record high