Maize based cropping systems in India:

As maize has wide adaptability and compatibility under diverse soil and climatic conditions and hence it is cultivated in sequence with different crops under various agro-ecologies of the country. Hence, it is considered as one of the potential driver of crop diversification under different situation. Among different maize based cropping systems, maize-wheat ranks 1^st having 1.8 m ha area mainly concentrated in rainfed ecologies. Maize-wheat is the 3^rd most important cropping systems after rice-wheat and rice-rice that contributes about 3 % in the national food basket. The other major maize systems in India are maize-mustard, maize-chickpea, maize-maize, cotton-maize etc. Recently, due to changing scenario of natural resource base, rice-maize has emerged a potential maize based cropping system in peninsular and eastern India. In peri-urban interface, maize based high value intercropping systems are also gaining importance due to market driven farming. Further, maize have compatibility with several crops of different growth habit that led to development of various intercropping systems. Studies carried out under various soil and climatic conditions under All India Coordinated Research Project on Cropping Systems revealed that compared to existing cropping systems like rice-wheat and rice-rice, maize based cropping systems are better user of available resources and the water use efficiency of maize based cropping systems was about 100 to 200 % higher at different locations.

Table 1. Maize based sequential cropping systems in different ago-climatic zones of India

Agro-climatic region	Cropping system
Agro-climatic region	Irrigated	Rainfed
Western Himalayan Region	Maize-wheat Maize-potato-wheat Maize-wheat-greengram Maize-mustard Maize-sugarcane	Maize-mustard Maize-legumes
Eastern Himalayan Region	Summer rice-maize-mustard Maize-maize Maize-maize-legumes	Sesame-Rice+maize
Lower Gangetic Plain region	Autumn rice-maize Jute-rice-maize	Rice-maize
Middle Gangetic Plain region	Maize-early potato-wheat-mungbean Maize-wheat Maize-wheat-mungbean Maize-wheat-urdbean Maize-sugarcane-mungbean	Maize-wheat
Upper Gangetic Plain region	Maize-wheat Maize-wheat-mungbean Maize-potato-wheat Maize-potato-sunflower Maize-potato-onion Maize-potato-sugarcane-ratoon Rice-potato-maize	Maize-wheat Maize-barley Maize-safflower
Trans Gangetic Plain region	Maize-wheat Maize-wheat-mungbean Maize-potato-wheat Maize-potato-sunflower Maize-potato-onion Mungbean-maize-toria-wheat Maize-potato-mungbean	Maize-wheat
Eastern plateau & hills region	Maize-groundnut-vegetables Maize-wheat-vegetables	Rice-potato-maize Jute-maize-cowpea
Central plateau & hills region	Maize-wheat	Maize-groundnut
Western plateau & hills region	Sugarcane + Maize
Southern plateau & hills region	Rice-maize Maize-rice	Sorghum-maize Maize-sorghum-Pulses Maize-potato-groundnut
East coast plain and hills region	Rice-maize-pearlmillet Maize-rice Rice-maize Rice-rice-maize	Maize-maize-pearlmillet Rice-maize + cowpea
West coast plain and hills region	Maize-pulses Rice-maize	Rice-maize Groundnut-maize
Gujrat plains and hills region	Maize-wheat	Rice-maize
Western dry region	Maize-mustard Maize-chickpea	Maize+legumes
Island region	Rice-maize	Maize-rice Rice-maize + cowpea Rice-maize-urdbean Rice-rice-maize