Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important cereal in India after wheat and rice. Currently it is cultivated over 8.12 million ha with 19.77 million tonnes production with an average productivity of 2435 kg/ ha, contributing nearly 8 % in the national food basket. Maize contributes Rs. 100 billion to the agricultural GDP at current prices apart from the providing employment to nearly 100 million man-days at the farm and downstream agricultural and industrial sectors. In addition to staple food for human being and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material to the industry for production of starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners and, more recently, bio-fuel. Being a potential crop in India, maize occupies an important place as a source of human food (25%), animal feed (12 %), poultry feed (49%), industrial products mainly as starch (12%), and 1 % each in brewery and seed (Dass et al 2008).

Maize is a good source of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and some of the important vitamins and minerals. Several million people, especially in the developing countries, derive their protein and calorie requirements from maize. However, in spite of several important uses, maize has an in-built drawback of being deficient in two essential amino acids, viz., lysine and tryptophan. This leads to poor net protein utilization and low biological value of traditional maize genotypes. To overcome this problem, the maize breeders have developed quality protein maize (QPM) by incorporating opaque-2 mutant gene, which is particularly responsible for enhancing lysine and tryptophan content of maize endosperm protein. Quality protein maize looks and taste like normal maize with same or higher yield potential, but it contains nearly twice the quantity of essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan, which makes it rich in quality proteins.

The QPM research was initiated long back during 1970’s, but it gained momentum during 1990’s with continuous breeding efforts on development of high yielding hard endosperm modified opaque-2 maize germplasm by International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) and made it available for use in the breeding program all over the world. In India, these germplasm accessions received from CIMMYT, Mexico were tested at different centers of All India Coordinated Research Project on Maize (AICRPM). Through acclimatization and repeated selection, hard endosperm modified opaque-2 maize inbred lines and their crosses have been identified for better protein quality and higher yield potential. The Directorate of Maize Research (DMR), New Delhi developed first QPM Composite variety, Shakti-1 with 0.63% tryptophan in the year 1997, which was released and recommended for general cultivation by Indian farmers in 1998. The QPM research gained further momentum by launch of National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) on QPM in 1998 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). In this project, a multi-disciplinary team of multi-institutes involving DMR, New Delhi, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU), Karnal, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, and Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU), Pusa wherein the QPM germplasm received from CIMMYT was acclimatized to suit the local agro-climatic conditions in India. The lines were evaluated for their productivity and deployed in combination breeding which led to release of first QPM three way cross hybrid, Shaktiman-1 by RAU, Pusa during 2001 followed by release of first QPM single cross hybrid, Shaktiman-2 during 2004 for their cultivation in Bihar state. In 2005, CCS HAU, Karnal released another QPM single cross hybrid, HQPM-1 which is the first yellow grain QPM single cross hybrid released for its cultivation across the country. Later in the series of QPM, Shaktiman-3 and Shaktiman-4 were released by RAU, Pusa during 2006 for their cultivation in Bihar. In 2007, another QPM single cross hybrid, HQPM-5 from CCSHAU, Karnal was released for its cultivation across the agro-ecologies of India. Further, two new single cross QPM hybrids i.e. HQPM-7 from CCSHAU, Karnal and Vivek QPM-9 from Vivekanand Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Shala (VPKAS), Almora has been identified during 2008. Vivek QPM-9 has a unique distinction of the first molecular marker assisted (MAS) converted product of normal hybrid Vivek-9.

In view of the significance of QPM for human nutritional security and ever-growing poultry sector in India, a special emphasis is being given on QPM single cross hybrid breeding under AICRP on maize. In addition to the five centres of AICRPM involved in QPM research since launch of NATP, now other centers have also joined the QPM research programme. As a result, currently the AICRP on maize centers have large number of QPM fixed lines of both yellow and white back ground in their possession, in addition to large number of advanced generation lines that shows strength of QPM research in India. The cultivation of QPM hybrids will ensure higher income to farmers as well as nutritionally superior food to the consumers. Therefore, the QPM can be a strong support to the mission of food and nutritional security of the country particularly in under privileged and tribal regions, where maize is consumed as a staple food. QPM will also ensure quality feed for poultry and animal sector which are the largest consumer of maize in India.