Cereal Production by Country 2024

Cereal is the collective term for any grass cultivated for its edible grain. Botanically, grain is a type of fruit called a caryopsis, which includes a germ, endosperm and bran. Cereals are staple crops throughout the world, primarily because they can be grown in greater quantities and provide more energy than other crops. The most important factors that determine a country’s cereal production include its size and agricultural technology.

Overview

Cereal crops with significant agricultural value include barley, millet, maize (corn), oats, rye, sorghum, rice and wheat. Corn, rice and wheat account for the vast majority of the world’s cereal production and are also the primary subject of agricultural research. These advances continue to increase production, especially during the last decade. Grains like buckwheat, chia and quinoa are also edible and grown in commercial quantities, but they belong to other plant families. They’re known as pseudocereals, although they aren’t closely related to cereals.

Consumption

Cereals are a rich source of calories, including carbohydrates, fats and protein. They’re also high in many vitamins and minerals, provided the grain is in whole, unprocessed form. The primary aspect of processing is to remove the bran and germ, where most of the nutrients are concentrated. The remaining endosperm consists mostly of carbohydrates, resulting in a lower nutritional value.

Cereals comprise the majority of sustenance in developing countries, where the grain is usually unprocessed. This general rule is less true in developed countries, although the consumption of cereals is still substantial. However, cereals in these countries are usually consumed in refined form. Cereals usually form the basis of a country’s agricultural economy and are often traded as commodities.

Production

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Corporate Statistical Database (CSD) provides detailed information on the world’s agricultural production. The total production of cereal in 2021 was about 3.07 billion metric tons. China, the United States and India accounted for about half of the total by themselves, although the proportion of specific grains differed greatly between these three countries. All the figures above are from official sources, except those from China and Bangladesh, where the figures are estimates.