Gurdaspur Maize Corn Hill Area Farming

Gurdaspur's undulating Kandi terrain in the northern blocks is not fully canal-irrigated and farmers here grow maize as the primary kharif monsoon crop, planting composite and hybrid varieties like HQPM-1 with a high amino acid profile used for poultry feed. Maize cobs harvested in September are dried in house courtyards and sold to Gurdaspur's feed milling companies or hand-processed into makki flour for home consumption. The Punjab Agricultural University has introduced quality protein maize varieties in Gurdaspur's Kandi villages as a higher-nutrition alternative to white maize with improved income for smallholder farmers.