Maize was the first major cereal crop in human civilization to be affected by hybridization. It is the most widely distributed crop of world being grown in diverse seasons and ecologies with highest production and productivity among food cereals. It is grown in about 166 countries occupying 165 mha area with production of more than 800 million tons and productivity of 5.1 tons/ha. It is used worldwide for about 3500 products of different uses as feed (61%), food (17%) and also serves as a source of basic raw material of number of industries (22%) viz., starch, ethanol, oil, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharma, cosmetics etc. No other cereal can be used in such many ways as maize.
No comments:
Post a Comment