ABSTRACT
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. Among different maize based cropping systems, maize – wheat ranks first having 1.8 million ha area mainly concentrated in rainfed ecologies which is the third most important cropping systems after rice – wheat and rice – rice and contributes about 3 % in the national food basket. Under the changing climate scenario maize being a photo-insensitive crop has better options for adaptation and mitigation of these climatic changes. Peninsular India is considered to be a neutral environment for maize wherein maize can be cultivated in either of the seasons. Therefore maize is the only suitable alternative crop and more area is likely to shift towards maize cultivation in near future in these non-traditional areas.
