INTRODUCTION:
Maize being the highest yielding cereal crop in the world, is of significant importance for countries like Pakistan, where rapidly increasing population has already out stripped the available food supplies.In Pakistan maize is third important cereal after wheat and rice. Maize accounts for 4.8% of the total cropped area and 3.5% of the value of agricultural output. It is planted on an estimated area of 0.9 million hectare with an annual production of 1.3 million tonnes. The bulk (97%) of the total production come from two major provinces, NWFP, accounting for 57% of the total area and 68% of total production. Punjab contribute 38% acreage with 30% of total maize grain production. Very little maize 2-3% is produced in the province of Sindh and Balochistan. Though not included in Pakistan official statistics maize is an important crop of AJK with about 0.122 million hectare of maize being planted during kharif. Similarly a very growing and high yielding sector of maize, the spring maize area and production in Punjab is not accounted for , which covers around 0.070 million ha with about 050 million tonnes of maize grain being produced
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