Editing Cereal (section)

== Production and trade commodities ==

[[File:Starokostiantyniv Grain Elevator after Russian missile attack, 2023-08-06 (01).jpg|thumb|A grain elevator on fire in Ukraine, 2023. The Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted its wheat exports and the global [[cereal trade]].]]

Cereals constitute the world's largest commodities by tonnage, whether measured by production<ref name="IDRC"/> or by international trade. Several major producers of cereals dominate the market.<ref name="FAO 2023"/> Because of the scale of the trade, some countries have become reliant on imports, thus cereals [[Food prices|pricing]] or availability can have outsized impacts on countries with a food trade imbalance and thus [[food security]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=OECD |url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/oecd-fao-agricultural-outlook-2023-2032_08801ab7-en |title=OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032 |last2=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |date=2023-07-06 |publisher=OECD |isbn=978-92-64-61933-3 |language=en |chapter=3. Cereals |doi=10.1787/19991142 |chapter-url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/0f858aab-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/0f858aab-en}}</ref> [[Speculation]], as well as other compounding production and supply factors leading up to the [[2008 financial crisis]], created rapid inflation of grain prices during the [[2007–2008 world food price crisis]].<ref name="WFSFAO">{{cite web |title=World Food Situation |url=http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429085859/http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/ |archive-date=29 April 2011 |access-date=24 April 2011 |publisher=FAO}}</ref> Other disruptions, such as climate change or war related changes to supply or transportation can create further food insecurity; for example the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022 disrupted Ukrainian and Russian wheat supplies causing a [[World food crises (2022–present)|global food price crisis in 2022]] that affected countries heavily dependent on wheat flour.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Pei |first1=Qing |last2=Zhang |first2=David Dian |last3=Xu |first3=Jingjing |chapter=Price Responses of Grain Market under Climate Change in Pre-industrial Western Europe by ARX Modelling |date=August 2014 |title=Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications |conference=2014 4th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications (SIMULTECH) |pages=811–817 |doi=10.5220/0005025208110817 |isbn=978-989-758-038-3 |s2cid=8045747 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine |title=Climate Change is Likely to Devastate the Global Food Supply |url=https://time.com/5663621/climate-change-food-supply/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |magazine=Time}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CLIMATE CHANGE LINKED TO GLOBAL RISE IN FOOD PRICES – Climate Change |url=https://climatechange.medill.northwestern.edu/2015/02/10/climate-change-linked-to-global-rise-in-food-prices/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |archive-date=18 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018125750/https://climatechange.medill.northwestern.edu/2015/02/10/climate-change-linked-to-global-rise-in-food-prices/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lustgarten |first=Abrahm |date=2020-12-16 |title=How Russia Wins the Climate Crisis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/16/magazine/russia-climate-migration-crisis.html |access-date=2022-04-02 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Production ===

{{See also|List of countries by cereal production}}

[[File:Ethiopie-Battage du teff (4).jpg|thumb|left|Threshing [[teff]], Ethiopia, 2007]]

Cereals are the world's largest crops by tonnage of grain produced.<ref name="IDRC">{{cite web |url=https://www.idrc.ca/en |title=IDRC - International Development Research Centre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609075145/https://www.idrc.ca/en |archive-date=9 June 2016 |website=[[International Development Research Centre]]}}</ref> Three cereals, maize, wheat, and rice, together accounted for 89% of all cereal production worldwide in 2012, and 43% of the global supply of [[food energy]] in 2009,<ref name="prodstat">{{cite web |title=ProdSTAT |url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210214103/http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx |archive-date=10 February 2012 |access-date=9 July 2020 |work=[[FAOSTAT]]}}</ref> while the production of oats and rye has drastically fallen from their 1960s levels.<ref name="Ritchie-2013"/>

Other cereals not included in the U.N.'s [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] statistics include [[wild rice]], which is grown in small amounts in North America, and [[teff]], an ancient grain that is a staple in [[Ethiopia]].<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/> Teff is grown in sub-Saharan Africa as a grass primarily for feeding horses. It is high in fiber and protein. Its flour is often used to make [[injera]]. It can be eaten as a warm breakfast cereal like [[Farina (food)|farina]] with a chocolate or nutty flavor.<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/>

<gallery mode=packed widths=600 heights=400>
File:Production Of Cereals (2021).svg|Production of cereals worldwide, by country in 2021
</gallery>

The table shows the annual production of cereals in 1961, 1980, 2000, 2010, and 2019/2020.{{efn |1961 is the earliest year for which [[FAO]] statistics are available.}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |title=FAOSTAT |url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL |access-date=30 August 2022 |website=[[FAOSTAT]] (Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics Division) |archive-date=6 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106022112/https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ritchie-2013">{{Cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser |first2=Max |author2-link=Max Roser |date=17 October 2013 |title=Crop Yields |url=https://ourworldindata.org/crop-yields |journal=[[Our World in Data]] |access-date=30 August 2022 |archive-date=27 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727075346/https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-in-agriculture/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Grain
! colspan="5" nowrap="" |Worldwide production 
(millions of metric tons)
! rowspan="2" |Notes
|-
!1961
!1980
!2000
!2010
!2019/20
|-
|[[Maize]] (corn)
|205
|397
|592
|852
|1,148
|A staple food of people in the Americas, Africa, and of [[livestock]] worldwide; often called corn in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. A large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption.<ref name="Wrigley-2016">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/939553708 |title=Encyclopedia of food grains |date=2016 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0-12-394786-4 |editor-last=Wrigley |editor-first=Colin W. |edition=2nd |location=Kidlington, Oxford, England |oclc=939553708 |editor-last2=Corke |editor-first2=Harold |editor-last3=Seetharaman |editor-first3=Koushik |editor-last4=Faubion |editor-first4=Jonathan |access-date=30 August 2022 |archive-date=30 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830133457/https://www.worldcat.org/title/939553708 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[Rice]]{{efn |The weight given is for paddy rice}} Production is in milled terms.
|285
|397
|599
|697
|755
|The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions. [[Staple food]] in most of [[Brazil]], other parts of [[Latin America]] and some other Portuguese-descended cultures, parts of Africa (even more before the [[Columbian exchange]]), most of [[South Asia]] and the [[Far East]]. Largely overridden by [[breadfruit]] (a dicot tree) during the South Pacific's part of the [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] expansion.<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/>
|-
|[[Wheat]]
|222
|440
|585
|641
|768
|The primary cereal of temperate regions. It has a worldwide consumption but it is a staple food of North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and much of the [[Greater Middle East]]. [[Wheat gluten (food)|Wheat gluten]]-based meat substitutes are important in the Far East (albeit less than [[tofu]]) and are said to resemble meat texture more than others.<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/>
|-
|[[Barley]]
|72
|157
|133
|123
|159
|Grown for [[malt]]ing and [[livestock]] on land too poor or too cold for wheat.<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/>
|-
|[[Commercial sorghum|Sorghum]]
|41
|57
|56
|60
|58
|Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock.<ref name="Wrigley-2016"/>
|-
|[[Millet]]
|26
|25
|28
|33
|28
|A group of similar cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa.<ref name="Wrigley-2016" />
|-
|[[Oat]]s
|50
|41
|26
|20
|23
|Popular worldwide as a breakfast food, such as in [[porridge]], and livestock feed.<ref name="WGC">{{cite web |title=Types of Oats |publisher=Whole Grains Council |url=http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/types-of-oats |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629041311/http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/types-of-oats |archive-date=29 June 2015 |access-date=25 June 2015 }}</ref>
|-
|[[Triticale]]
|0
|0.17
|9
|14
|—
|[[Hybrid (biology)|Hybrid]] of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye.<ref name="Wrigley-2016" />
|-
|[[Rye]]
|35
|25
|20
|12
|13
|Important in cold climates. Rye grain is used for [[flour]], [[Rye bread|bread]], [[Rye beer|beer]], [[crispbread]], some [[Rye whiskey|whiskeys]], some [[vodka]]s, and animal [[fodder]].<ref name="Wrigley-2016" />
|-
|[[Fonio]]
|0.18
|0.15
|0.31
|0.56
|—
|Several varieties are grown as food crops in Africa.<ref name="Wrigley-2016" />
|}

=== Trade ===

{{further|Grain trade}}

[[File:Bulk carrier arriving in port (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A [[Bulk cargo|bulk grain]] ship, 2006]]

Cereals are the most traded [[commodities]] by quantity in 2021, with wheat, maize, and rice the main cereals involved. The Americas and Europe are the largest exporters, and Asia is the largest importer.<ref name="FAO 2023"/> The largest exporter of maize is the US, while India is the largest exporter of rice. China is the largest importer of maize and of rice. Many other countries trade cereals, both as exporters and as importers.<ref name="FAO 2023">{{cite book |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |access-date=2023-12-13  |date=2023 |doi=10.4060/cc8166en |isbn=978-92-5-138262-2 }}</ref> Cereals are [[futures trading|traded as futures]] on world [[commodity market]]s, helping to mitigate the risks of changes in price for example, if harvests fail.<ref name="Atkin 2024">{{cite book |last1=Atkin |first1=Michael |title=Agricultural Commodity Markets: A Guide to Futures Trading |date=2024 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781003845379 |chapter=6. Grains}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed widths=600 heights=500>
File:Main Traded Cereals, Top Importers And Exporters (Quantities, 2021).svg|Main traded cereals, top import, export in 2021
</gallery>