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Maize and the Indian poultry-feed market Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Maize and the Indian poultry-feed market

Poultry feed is the single largest demand sink for Indian maize. ICAR-IIMR places the share of maize going into poultry rations at 60-65% of national production in normal years, with another 12-15% absorbed by cattle and aquaculture feed. Together, animal feed accounts for ~75% of all maize used in India — a structural dependence that links maize prices to the broiler and layer cycles rather than to wheat or rice trends.

Why it matters

Indian broiler and layer rations are typically 50-60% maize by weight, supplying the bulk of metabolisable energy. A 10% change in maize availability or price moves egg and broiler farm-gate prices materially within weeks. The maize-soyabean ratio (corn-to-soya basis) is the standard cost reference for layer integrators in Namakkal, Hyderabad and Pune. Because poultry consumption is growing 6-8% per year, structural maize demand is rising even before ethanol diversion (Maize Ethanol Feedstock Mol 3G) is counted.

Key facts

  • Maize share of poultry feed: 50-60% by weight (corn-soy basis)
  • Poultry share of national maize use: 60-65%
  • All-animal-feed share of maize: ~75%
  • Egg production 2023-24: ~140 billion eggs; broilers ~5.3 mt live weight
  • Top consuming clusters: Namakkal (TN), Hyderabad (Telangana), East Godavari (AP), Pune-Solapur (MH), Barwala (Haryana), North 24 Parganas (WB)

Market mechanism

Integrators (Suguna, Venky's, Skylark, IB Group, Godrej Tyson) source maize through year-round forward and spot contracts. Kharif maize floods mandis in October-December at the southern price centres of Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Davangere and Vijaywada; rabi maize from Bihar arrives April-June at Begusarai, Khagaria, Gulabbagh, and is dispatched in rakes to feed mills in Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal. Mandi prices are tracked daily by CLFMA (Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers' Association) and AGMARKNET.

Quality requirements

Poultry feed-grade maize is graded on moisture (≤14%), broken/damaged kernels (≤3%), aflatoxin B1 (FSSAI limit 30 µg/kg in feed; integrators typically demand ≤20 µg/kg), and test weight (>68 kg/hl). Quality protein maize (Hqpm 1 Iari Quality Protein Maize, Hqpm 5 Quality Protein Maize, Pusa Qpm 5 Hybrid Maize) attracts a small premium because higher lysine reduces synthetic-lysine fortification needed in least-cost feed formulations.

Limitations

The 2023-24 collision between poultry, starch and ethanol-distillery demand pushed feed-grade maize prices above Rs 22-24/kg in southern markets, squeezing broiler margins. Aflatoxin contamination during humid kharif harvest remains the biggest quality risk; CLFMA estimates 8-12% of southern kharif maize fails B1 specs in monsoon years. Imports of yellow maize from Ukraine and Myanmar are episodically allowed when domestic prices spike — most recently in 2024 — but volumes are constrained by the import duty and by GM-free certification requirements.

See also: Maize Crop Overview, Maize Bihar Rabi Cultivation, Maize Ethanol Feedstock Mol 3G, Hqpm 1 Iari Quality Protein Maize, Hqpm 5 Quality Protein Maize, Dhm 117 Iimr Maize.

Sources

  1. Status paper on maize utilization in India. ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/?page_id=2247
  2. Annual report 2023. Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers' Association of India. https://www.clfma.org/