Increasing use of maize in ethanol production will increase difficulties for the feed industry
05-May-2025 04:01 PM
New Delhi. The increasing use of maize in the production of ethanol and biofuels is raising concerns for the animal feed industry, which traditionally relies heavily on maize.
While the demand for maize in ethanol production is rising rapidly, domestic production has not increased at the same pace, which could lead to a shortage in industries that have long depended on it.
About 60 percent of India’s maize production has traditionally gone into poultry feed manufacturing, and it is also widely used in the production of animal feed, starch, and for human consumption.
India used to be a surplus producer of maize, allowing for significant exports. However, with changing priorities and growing ethanol requirements, the country may soon need to begin importing maize to meet domestic demand.
According to official data, India produced approximately 320–330 lakh tonnes of maize in the 2021–22 season, while domestic consumption was around 280 lakh tonnes.
This allowed for a surplus, and maize exports reached 37 lakh tonnes that year. Within the domestic market, the poultry and animal feed industries used around 200 lakh tonnes—150 lakh tonnes for poultry feed and 50 lakh tonnes for animal feed.
The starch industry used about 50 lakh tonnes, while 20 lakh tonnes went for direct human consumption and 10 lakh tonnes for seed.
The situation began to shift as maize usage in ethanol production increased. Ethanol, which can be blended with petrol, is derived from starch—a component that makes up 68 to 72 percent of maize grain.
With around 380 liters of ethanol producible from one tonne of maize, its use in biofuel production has become economically attractive.
In the 2022–23 season, sugar mills and distilleries supplied 31.51 crore liters of ethanol, using only 8 lakh tonnes of maize.
But by 2023–24, maize consumption for ethanol rose sharply to 75 lakh tonnes, with ethanol supply reaching 286.54 crore liters.
This rapid rise in demand for ethanol has put pressure on the availability of maize for traditional industries and may complicate the balance between food, feed, and fuel in the coming years.