Maize (Zea maysL.) is the highest yielding cereal crop in the world and has significant importance in fulfilling the demand of food, feed and fodder with wide range of products like flour, meal, gluten, flakes, oil, syrup and many more are made from maize grain in industry. Pakistan is the eighteenth largest country producing 6.3 million tons of maize grain out of which 70% is utilized in poultry feed, 20% in wet milling and around 10% in food and seed. Maize for grain purpose is planted on an area of 1.3 million hectare with average yield of 4787 kg/ha. The bulk (97%) of the total maize production comes from two provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, 2-3% maize grains are produced in the province of Sindh and Balochistan. Punjab Province has the largest share in maize area (0.89 million hectares) and production (5.9 million tons). Depending upon climate, maize is planted in a year i.e. during spring and autumn season.

Pearl Millet (Pennisetumglaucum) or Millet is mostly considered as marginal area. These regions are characterized by erratic distribution of annual rainfall, high mean temperature and low soil fertility. It is currently the fourth cereal in terms of production in Pakistan. It is an important source of feed and fodder especially in the hot and dry areas of the country. Pearl millet or Bajra is rich in essential compounds like protein, fiber, phosphorous, magnesium and iron. Presently, pearl millet is grown on about 456 thousand hectares with production of 350 thousand tons annually.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is also considered a marginal area crop. It is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia and is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world. The importance of sorghum is increasing in industry, instead of its raw consumption. Sorghum is a valued industrial raw material such as processed animal feed, bird feed, sweet sorghum alcohol, syrup, processed foods, malt/brewing and forage. Sorghum is grown on about 242 thousand hectares with production of 149 thousand tons annually. MSM in collaboration with ICRISAT introduced one hundred and thirty four accessions of sorghum.