Growing maize
Zea mays · also called makka, makaai (Kashmiri)Maize is sown straight into well-drained fields, mostly in the monsoon, and harvested once the husk dries and the grain hardens. In the hills it is sown in spring; in the south it is also grown in winter.
Cold desert: Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti
Not a crop for this region
SKUAST-Jammu recommends its hardiest maize only up to about 2250 m. Ladakh and Lahaul-Spiti farm well above that, with a short, cold season.
Where it grows nearest
Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills
Sow April to mid-May (up to about 1500 m)
See the Temperate Himalaya guideSub-tropical foothills: Jammu, Kangra, Dehradun
Sow First half of June (irrigated plains)
See the Sub-tropical foothills guide
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Not suited here
- Sow
- Harvest
- Today
- Not suited here
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold desert | Not suited here | |||
| Temperate Himalaya | April to mid-May (up to about 1500 m)April only (above about 1500 m) | September to October | ||
| Sub-tropical foothills | First half of June (irrigated plains)With the monsoon, not after 10 July (rainfed plains)With the monsoon, not after 30 June (intermediate hills) | September to early October | ||
| North-west plains | Last week of May to end of June (irrigated)20 June to 7 July (rainfed) | September to early October | ||
| Gangetic plains | 25 October to 7 November (winter maize)Late June to early July (kharif maize, AI suggestion) | April to early May (winter maize, AI suggestion) | ||
| North-east hills and valleys | February to March (pre-kharif, rainfed) | June to July | ||
| Arid west | 4th week of June to 2nd week of July (rainfed) | Late September to early October | ||
| Central plateau | Second half of June to first half of July | Late September to mid-October | ||
| Deccan plateau | 2nd week of June to 2nd week of July (kharif, irrigated)2nd week of October to 1st week of December (rabi, irrigated) | Late September to October (kharif crop, AI suggestion)Late February to March (rabi crop, AI suggestion) | ||
| South interior | July to August (Adipattam)September to October (Purattasipattam)January to February (Thaipattam) | |||
| West coast | June to July (rainfed)August to September (rainfed)January to February (irrigated) | |||
| East coast | July to August (Adipattam)September to October (Purattasipattam)January to February (Thaipattam) | |||
What it needs
Soil, sun and warmth
Soil pH1,3,4
6 to 7
Fertile, well-drained loams and silt loams; sandy loam to silty loam also suits. Maize cannot stand waterlogging, so pick level fields that drain well.
SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
At least 6 hours a day
Full sun in an open field. Shade from trees or tall bunds thins the cobs.
Temperature3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Grows best at 21 to 37 °C
Frost: none tolerated.
Monthly temperatures for the Cold desert aren't in the library yet.
Seed and the season's end
Saving seed1,3
Buy fresh hybrid seed every year: grain from a hybrid crop gives clearly lower yields when sown again. Seed of composite varieties can be kept for 2 to 3 years. Choose 3000 to 5000 good cobs from the middle of the field, leaving about 9 m all round, and only cobs free from borer damage.
When the seed is ready
Cobs are ready when the husk has dried and turned brown and the grain is hard.
Shell the cobs and dry the grain well in the sun before storing.
After the last picking1,3
After harvest, plough the field and collect and destroy the stubble, which carries borer larvae through the winter. Use up stalks, cobs and cores as fodder or fuel by the end of February.
Rotation
Maize is usually followed by wheat, barley, potato, toria, gobhi sarson, peas or berseem, often with summer moong before the next maize.
Sources
Where this comes from
Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.
These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.
- Package of Practices for Kharif Crops 2016: MaizeDirectorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
- Maize: season and varietiesTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Irrigated maize: field preparationTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Irrigated maize: seed and sowingTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Irrigated maize: water managementTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Irrigated maize: harvestingTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Irrigated maize: after cultivationTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
AI Farm Manager · In development
Plan this crop on your land
AI Farm Manager will turn guides like this one into a plan for your own plot. It doesn't make plans yet.