Farmers shift to maize as biofuel push drives sales

A longstanding trend of farmers preferring cereal crops over scarce pulses and oilseeds has been bolstered by a craze for maize and its area shows a meteoric rise over the past few years.

- Zia Haq

Corn is a new favourite among growers due to its use in making ethanol for India's high-priority biofuels programme. This summer, farmers have sown more maize than in any of the past five years.

The total area has jumped to 9.8 million hectares, which represents a 17% rise in the same period, latest official data showed. Output is also fast rising, growing by 11% in 2024-25 to nearly a quarter of a million tonnes.

Cultivators seem to be responding to measures to promote maize or corn as the next big commercial crop, after wheat and rice, to bolster its energy security through bumper harvests.

The country last month achieved the milestone of meeting its target of mixing 20% ethanol with petrol, early by four months, on the back of favourable policy steps to turn more of surplus rice as well as maize into the alcohol compound. Ethanol is also made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar.