Cereal Totally Explained

Everything about Cereal totally explained

Cereal crops or grains are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible grains or fruitseeds (for example, botanically a type of fruit called a caryopsis). Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they're therefore staple crops. They are also a rich source of carbohydrate. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice or corn, constitutes practically the entire diet of poor people. In developed nations, cereal consumption is both more moderate and varied but still substantial.
The word 'cereal' derives from 'Ceres', the name of the pre-Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture. Grains are traditionally called corn in the United Kingdom and Ireland, though that word became specified for maize in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Production

The following table shows annual production of cereal grains, in 1961, 2005 and 2006, ranked by 2006 production. All but buckwheat and quinoa are true grasses (these two are pseudocereals).

Grain	2006 (t)	2005 (t)	1961 (t)
Maize	695,287,651	712,877,757	205,004,683	A staple food of peoples in North America, South America, and Africa and of livestock worldwide; often called "corn" or "Indian corn" in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Rice	634,575,804	631,508,532	284,654,697	The primary cereal of tropical regions
Wheat	605,256,883	628,697,531	222,357,231	The primary cereal of temperate regions
Barley	138,704,379	141,334,270	72,411,104	Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat
Sorghum	56,525,765	59,214,205	40,931,625	Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock
Millets	31,783,428	30,589,322	25,703,968	A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa.
Oats	23,106,021	23,552,531	49,588,769	Formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide for livestock
Rye	13,265,177	15,223,162	35,109,990	Important in cold climates
Triticale	11,338,788	13,293,233	0	Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye
Buckwheat	2,365,158	2,078,299	2,478,596	Pseudocereal, used in Eurasia. Major uses include various pancakes and groats
Fonio	378,409	363,021	178,483	Several varieties of which are grown as food crops in Africa
Quinoa	58,989	58,443	32,435	Pseudocereal, grown in the Andes

Maize, wheat and rice, between them, accounted for 87% of all grain production, worldwide, and 43% of all food calories in 2003. world oil prices at nearly $100 a barrel, global population growth, climate change, loss of agricultural land to residential and industrial development,, growing consumer demand in China and India and feeding 635 million tons per year to livestock as fodder have pushed up the price of grain. Food riots have recently taken place in many countries across the world. Water deficits, causing decrease in grain production, is one cause of grain independence. It already spurs heavy grain imports in numerous smaller countries, may soon do the same in larger countries, such as China or India. The water tables are falling in scores of countries (including Northern China, the US, and India) due to widespread overpumping using powerful diesel and electric pumps. Other countries affected include Pakistan, Iran, and Mexico. This will eventually lead to water scarcity and cutbacks in grain harvest. Even with the overpumping of its aquifers, China is developing a grain deficit. When this happens, it'll almost certainly drive grain prices upward. Most of the 3 billion people projected to be added worldwide by mid-century will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. One suggested solution is for population growth to be slowed quickly by investing heavily in female literacy and family planning services. Desalination is also considered a viable and effective solution to the problem of water shortages.
After China and India, there's a second tier of smaller countries with large water deficits — Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, and Pakistan. Four of these already import a large share of their grain. Only Pakistan remains self-sufficient. But with a population expanding by 4 million a year, it'll also likely soon turn to the world market for grain.

Further Information

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