Maize (Zea mays L.) is the cereal crop with highest production in the world. It is cultivated across >170 countries due to its multifaceted utility in food, feed, fodder, and numerous other industries. In order to meet its sustained demand in long-run, continuous improvement is most important which requires a multidisciplinary approach encompassing breeding, agronomy, entomology, pathology, physiology, biochemistry, biotechnology etc. Maize improvement across the globe has focused mainly on developing high-yielding, stress-resilient hybrids by employing conventional as well as molecular breeding methods. In recent years, increased emphasis is being placed on enhancing tolerance to abiotic (drought and heat) and biotic (major pests and diseases) stresses especially. The production technologies concentrating mainly on optimization of planting geometry, precision nutrient and water management, weed control and conservation tillage practices for yield maximization, bridging yield gaps, and increased resource use efficiency. Fall armyworm (FAW), downy mildews, northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) or turcicum leaf blight (TLB), banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB), maydis leaf blight (MLB) or southern corn leaf blight (SCLB), post flowering stalk rot (PFSR) etc. have emerged as the major threat to sustained maize production and productivity across several countries. The focussed research on host-plant resistance, biological control and integrated insect-pest control (IPM), insect-pest surveillance and forewarning models could provide viable solutions against such challenges. The changing climate scenarios demands better cultivars with improved adaptability in different agro-climatic conditions. The increased understanding on plant growth, photosynthetic efficiency, and source-sink relationships are essential and critical to enhance productivity. The changing food habits has led to increased demand for maize based value added processed food products. As a result, enhancing nutritional value of maize or altered biochemical compositions through various interventions like biofortification has gained importance in different parts of the world. For example, efforts have been made to develop maize cultivars with enhanced levels of lysine and tryptophan (called quality protein maize), provitamin A, vitamin E, low phytate, high methionine, high amylopectin, high amylose etc. The genetic diversity in maize has led to classification of maize based on the special utility of the end products of maize viz., baby corn, popcorn and sweet corn together called specialty corns. The increased importance specialty corn has redefined the research programs of many countries with dedicated breeding programs on specialty corns. The advances in molecular biology and genetic engineering has broaden the horizons of genetic manipulation techniques. For example, development of genetically modified organisms, as well as genome edited products have opened large number of opportunities in genetic improvement in traits like insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, and nutrient use efficiency etc. The integration of knowledge, tools, and techniques across various disciplines is needed to bring overall improvement in maize production and productivity with improved nutritional value and enhanced levels of stress tolerance under changing climatic conditions by developing new and resource use-efficient cultivars.