SECTION C: ENGINEERING
Maize area planted to maize in Peru is 500,000 ha, approximately 50% of each, hard yellow maize (MAD) and highland maize (MA); MAD is used by the animal feed industry and the MA for human consumption. Average area planted by farmers is less than 1.5 ha in both cases. Maize production has been increased in the last 60 years however the demand has not been satisfied for MAD, which has been covered by importing more than 3 million tons of corn / year, worth one billion dollars. There is a 5% surplus of MA for export. MAD imports is higher than 70% of the demand, which means a problem for national food security; on the other hand, there are more than 500,000 farming units that are planting maize and therefore need to be included in country development policies to improve their livelihoods. A way to increase income for farmers planting MA is linking to the national and international market in order to increase the demand by producing transformed products based on corn as raw material, the increase in purple corn exports in recent years is a good indicator. For MAD a strategy to increase maize production is needed that may include all public and private members of the maize chain aimed to increase maize production according with national, regional, and local requirements. In both cases, suitable technologies and government policies are essential to increase maize productivity and profitability. A training strategy must be developed for succeeding the maize Peruvian plan aimed to increase maize production.
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