India, Nov. 20 -- India needs to dramatically ramp up the productivity of its maize crop to keep pace with growing consumption, as cereal becomes an increasingly key piece of the country's food, feed and fuel security puzzle.

Maize ranks as India's third most cultivated cereal crop, following rice and wheat. Often referred as the 'Queen of Cereals', its cultivation has by all accounts been a huge success. Maize production and productivity growth have outstripped production and productivity growth for both rice and wheat in the decade from 2012-13 to 2022-23.

Despite some high-performing regions, India's average maize productivity lags the world's at 3.5 tonnes per hectare as compared to 6 tonnes on average globally.

The impact of this ...