News: India launched its first indigenous, non-GMO high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh.

About

• Developed by: ICAR-IIMR + Gourmet Popcornica.
• Hybrids: Krisna459 + Godari234 → high popping volume.
• Non-GMO: Conventional cross-breeding; no foreign genes inserted.
• Significance: Reduces import dependence + saves foreign exchange → Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• Popcorn maize: Specialized flint corn variety of Zea mays (family Poaceae).
• Popping: Heat → moisture → steam pressure ↑ → kernel bursts → popcorn.

Maize in India

• 3rd most important food crop after rice + wheat.
• 2025–26 production: 55.09 million tonnes.
• Productivity: >3.19 t/ha vs global average ~5.5–5.6 t/ha.
• Top producer: Madhya Pradesh; followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar & Telangana.
• Cropping shift: Northern kharif → Peninsular India; >40% area + ~50% production.
• Rabi maize: Expanding in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana & West Bengal.