Fostering Sustainable Productivity Through Maize Technology Intensification: Participant Responses

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays) is a cereal produced across the world. Maize is one of the most important cereal crop cultivated in the rainforest and derived savannah zones of Nigeria. Maize has now risen to a commercial crop on which many agro-based industries depend on as a raw material (Iken and Amusa, 2004). It is a high yielding crop, easy to process, readily digested with cost advantage when compared to other cereals (IITA, 2001). It plays an important role both in terms of food security and nutritional intake and accounting for about 43% of calorie intake with a daily consumption quantity of 53.20g per capita (Komolafe et al., 2010). It is also used extensively as the main source of calories in animal feeding and feed formulation (Manyong et al., 2010). Apart from feed and food, maize is also useful in medicines and as raw material in agro-industries (Abdulrahaman & Kolawole, 2006). It constitutes a staple food in many regions of the world particularly in developing countries (Abebaw and Abelay, 2001). Maize is a staple food of great economic importance in the sub-Saharan Africa of which Nigeria is inclusive. In Nigeria, it is the third most important cereal crop after sorghum and millet (Ajayi et al., 2008). Maize is used as a staple human food, as feed for livestock and as raw material for many industrial products (Ouma et al., 2002). In most countries, maize is the most important foodstuff and in particular provides the daily bread for indigenous population of rural communities. Frova et al (1999), asserted that maize is one of the world's three most important cereal crop after wheat and rice and it has the widest distribution of any cereal. According to them, the crop is primarily grown for its grain which is consumed as human foods. In some developed countries, maize is also grown for animal feed and as a base for industrial products such as oil, syrup and starch. Maize is the second most important cereal crop in the world in terms of acreage and production. Global production of Maize was about 1040 million MT in the year 2016–2017, where in USA and China contributed about 38 and 23%, respectively. Maize can be cultivated successfully in loamy sand to heavy clay, well aerated, neutral pH soils. As of tropical origin, it is highly sensitive to water stagnation, so avoid the cultivation in low-lying or poor drainage fields. Furthermore, extended low temperature less 5°C severally affects the crop. Optimum range of temperature for better crop growth and yield realization is 25–35°C. Maize crop can be cultivated throughout the year with high yield levels. The average yield of maize in Nigeria is about 2500–3500 kg/ha of threshed grain using recommended fertilizers, varieties, seed-dressing, and improved cultural practices. The total land area planted to maize in Nigeria is above 2.5 million hectares with an estimated yield of about 1.4 metric tons per hectare, though, maize production is still very low especially if considered in relation to the growing food demand of the country. About 20% is processed for secondary uses.