The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word ZEIN
Z
E
I
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "What’s possibly in maize (cropping early summertime in France)" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case what’s possibly in maize (cropping early summertime in france) = zein.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ZEIN mean?
ZEIN noun- A protein derived from corn/maize, having many industrial applications.