A controversy is brewing within the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) over which division should oversee research for baby corn and sweet corn. The disagreement, fueled by a request from a Haryana farmer and supported by the State’s horticulture university, centers on whether these specialty corns should be treated as field crops or vegetable or horticulture crops.
It all began in June when Haryana farmer Kanwal Singh Chauhan wrote to Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He asked that baby corn and sweet corn be included under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme that offers financial benefits to farmers. This letter was passed to the ICAR’s Director-General, sparking the internal debate.
ICAR’s horticulture division argues that both are horticulture crops because consumers treat them as vegetables for use in salads, soups, and other dishes. They point out that the Varanasi-based Indian Institute of Vegetable Research is already running projects on baby corn and highlighted the crop’s growing global market, projected to rise from $1.46 billion in 2024 to $2.3 billion by 2030.
