The production of maize is generally dependent on the poultry industry which is situated in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Uneven prices of maize at harvesting season leave farmers in difficulty regarding the sowing decisions that they have to take during the ensuing rabi season. Under such a fix, to help the farmers to take right judgment about sowing of the commodity, the prices of Maize that would prevail in major markets of north Karnataka at the time of harvest have been predicted by the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) established in the  Department of Agri-business Management, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

To arrive at these prices, the monthly modal price data pertaining to the last 20 years from one of the leading markets in Karnataka for maize crop, Ranebennur regulated market, was collected and this data was analyzed and prices that would prevail at the rabi  harvesting  (February- April) of the crop in the market were forecasted.  These forecast prices were fine tuned by obtaining valuable opinions of well experienced traders, scientists, and   progressive farmers in the region.

On the basis of exercise conducted in analyzing the 20 years monthly price data from Ranebennur regulated market, and opinions and suggestions obtained from agricultural scientists, maize traders, progressive farmers and also the futures price data obtained from National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange of India (NCDEX), the prices of maize are expected to range between Rs.1250-1350 per quintal in the month of February, Rs.1300-1400 in the month of March, Rs.1350-1450 in the month of April, 2013. The minimum support price announced by the central government for this crop is Rs. 1175 per quintal. Very well matured, bold, dried, uniform coloured and cleaned seeds are to fetch higher prices.  So, the farmers are advised to keep these points in mind while taking up cultivation of the crop.