Growing guide
How to grow maize
A kharif cereal that uses far less water than paddy and qualifies for crop-diversification support.
At a glance
- Planting window
- Kharif: mid-June – early July, before monsoon onset
- Duration
- 90–110 days
- Climate
- 21–30 °C
- Soil
- Well-drained loam; pH 5.5–8
- Water need
- Moderate · about 500–600 mm a season
- Seed
- About 8 kg per acre (hybrid)
- Spacing
- 60 × 20 cm
- Yield
- 20–25 quintals per acre for kharif hybrids.
What to do, and when
Dates assume planting around 20 Jun. Change the plan to shift them.
- Days -7–0 — Make ridges or beds: Drainage protects the crop in heavy rain.
- Day 0 — Sow hybrid seed: About 8 kg per acre.
- Days 7–40 — Fall armyworm scouting: Twice a week in the whorl stage.
- Days 25–35 — Knee-high nitrogen: With earthing up.
- Month 2 — Tasseling nitrogen and water: The crop cannot afford stress now.
- Months 3–4 — Harvest: Dry cobs to safe moisture before sale.
Varieties to consider
Buy certified seed or planting material from an authorised source.
- PMH 1 · PMH 17 — PAU single-cross hybrids for kharif.
- HQPM 1 — Quality-protein maize from CCS HAU.
Water
- Rain covers most needs; irrigate at critical stages in dry spells.
- Never let it go short at: Knee-high · Tasseling and silking · Grain filling
- Drip irrigation suits this crop.
Nutrition
Zinc sulphate where deficient.
- Dose: Hybrids: about 150 kg N, 60 kg P₂O₅, 40 kg K₂O per hectare
- Sowing: all P and K with a third of N.
- Knee-high: a third of N.
- Tasseling: final third.
Pests and diseases to watch
Prevent first; spray only when needed, with a product registered for the crop, at label dose.
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- Maydis and turcicum leaf blights (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- Stalk rots (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
Yield and economics
Switching from paddy qualifies for ₹7,000/acre under Mera Pani Meri Virasat in Haryana.
- Cost per acre: undefined
- Yield per acre: undefined
- Price: MSP 2026-27
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What would you like to do next?
Where these numbers come from
- ICAR / state university general recommendation A typical range for irrigated conditions. Your soil test decides the final dose.
- PAU Package of Practices — Kharif crops 2026 Punjab Agricultural University. North-west plains.
- Common grower practice in north India Widely followed by farmers; confirm with your KVK for your block.
- Agriculture Novel indicative estimate A planning number, not a quote. Replace it with your own costs and your mandi’s price.
- Minimum Support Prices, Kharif Marketing Season 2026-27 Government of India, approved 14 May 2026.
