Agronomic Features
Producing waxy maize starch on an industrial scale requires extra measures compared to standard dent maize.
New varieties with the waxy locus are relatively easy to breed through back-crossing breeding with dent maize varieties, but their productivity is approximately 3 to 10% less than that of dent maize.
Due to the waxy gene being recessive, waxy maize has to be isolated from any nearby dent maize fields by at least 200 meters to prevent cross-pollination. Volunteer dent maize plants sprouting from the previous year's debris are also a problem. A few dent maize volunteers in a waxy field will be enough to contaminate the whole field, resulting in dent grains instead of waxy grains with amylopectin starch.
Almost all waxy grain is produced under contract for starch (wet milling) companies. A premium is paid as compensation for the extra costs incurred from the lower yield and the extra handling, such as quality control procedures to ensure starch the grain is not contaminated.
Read more about this topic: Waxy Corn
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