New Delhi, June 16 -- In an unpredictable turn of events, India, the breadbasket of maize for Asian countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia and Vietnam, found itself scouring global markets for the high-protein grain last year. In 2024, the country imported 0.9 million tonnes of maize-a mammoth 7,940 per cent more than what it imported in 2023, as per data with Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The figure is, in fact, much more than the combined import of maize in the last seven years. The culprit was not weather anomaly or pest attack-but diversion of maize for ethanol production, say industry insiders.

Poultry and cattle farmers and the feed industry, already squeezed by volatile soymeal prices and an avian influenza outbreak...