CEREAL GRAINS: Introduction, Production and Scope

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY OF CEREALS

Introduction

Cereals are plants which yield edible grains and includes rice, wheat, corn, barley, and oats. Cereal grains are the fruit of plants belonging to the grass family (Gramineae). Cereal grains provide the world with majority of its food calories and about half of its protein. They are also good source of micronutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamins of group B. Cereals are staples and are consumed in large quantities by majority of population in the world either directly or in modified form as major items of diet such as flour, bran and numerous additional ingredients used in the manufacture of other foods. Asia, America, and Europe produce more than 80 percent of the world’s cereal grains. Cereals are easy to store because of low moisture content, easy to handle and providing variety to the diet. The principle cereal grains grown in India are wheat, rice, corn, sorghum and barley.

Cereal grains are not only low in protein but also deficient in certain essential amino acids, especially lysine. Legumes as well as many oilseeds are rich in lysine, though relatively poor in methionine. Edible oilseed meals obtained from oilseeds are rich in proteins and have been used to improve the nutritional properties of cereal products such as infant food and food for school going children in most of the countries in world.

Cereal Grains

Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa, Linn.) crop originated in Asia and has been a staple food there since the Ice Age in the North. The geographical site of original rice domestication is yet not sure. But according to a general consensus, domestication occurred at three places – India, Indonesia and

China – thereby giving rise to three races of rice – Indica, Javonica and Sinica (also known as

Japonica), respectively. Actual rice grains and husk have been excavated in India that were more

than 4500 years old and in China more than 5000 years. According to ancient Greek writers, rice

penetrated Europe around 3000 B.C., having been brought from India by Alexander the Great.

Wheat

Historic documents confirm that wheat (Triticum aestivum, Triticum durum) is the earliest field crop used for human food processing. The cultivation of wheat reaches far back into history as it was predominant source of food for Human. The precise origin of the wheat cultivation is unclear, but it is thought that man has been cultivating and processing the wheat for at least 12,000 – 17,000 years.

Corn

Corn or Maize (Zea mays, L) is native to the America. Corn originated in Mexico, evolving from the wild grass Teosinte. Archaeological evidence suggests that corn was domesticated and grown as early as 5000B.C. in Mexico. Following Columbus’s discovery of America, corn was transplanted to Spain from where it quickly spread across Europe, Africa and Asia.

Barley

Barley (Hardeum vulgare L.) is among the most ancient of the cereal crops. The original area of cultivation has been reported to be in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, in present day Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. There is now considerable evidence that barley was under cultivation in India and China considerably later then in Middle East. Barley played an important role in ancient Greek culture as a staple bread–making grain, as well as an important food for athletes, who attributed much of their strength to their barley–containing training diets. Gladiators were known as hordearii, which means “eaters of barley”. In almost every culture through the ages, barley foods are described as having almost mystical properties, and barley is often referred to as the “king of grains”.

Current status of cereals in India

Production

India has reached to a level of self-sufficiency in the production of cereals after the green revolution. India is the world's second largest producer of Rice, Wheat and other cereals. India's total cereal production has averaged 2.7 percent annual growth since the mid-1960s. .. More than 272 million metric tons of cereals were estimated to be produced in India at the end of financial year 2020. These cereals include rice, wheat, barley, millets and ragi among others. The country registered record food grain production in 2018-19 clocking 285.17 million tonnes, which is slightly higher than food grain output of 285.01 million tonnes in 2017-18.

Assuming that total cereal production will continue to grow at 2.7 percent per year, then by 2020 production will be 347 million tons, or more than twice the production level achieved in 1993.This was more than sufficient to keep pace with growth in market demand, and the country moved from severe food crises in the mid-1960s to aggregate food surpluses today.

This remarkable increase in cereal production was largely the result of increases in yields; only 20 percent of the total production increase can be attributed to expansion of the net cropped area, and 80 percent to yield increases. The yield increases were attained from two major sources: an expansion of irrigated area from 24 million hectares in 1962-65 to 44.3 million hectares in 1990-93, and the spread of Green Revolution technologies, including improved seeds and intensive use of inorganic fertilizers.

Export

India is not only the largest producer of cereal as well as largest exporter of cereal products in the world. The huge demand for cereals in the global market is creating an excellent environment for the export of Indian cereal products. In 2008, India had imposed ban on export of rice and wheat etc to meet domestic needs. Now, seeing the huge demand in the global market and country's surplus production, Country has lifted the ban, but only limited amount of export of the commodity are allowed. The allowed marginal quantity of exports cereals could not make any significant impact either on domestic prices or the storage conditions.

India's export of cereals stood at Rs. 56,841.08 crore / 8,180.87 USD Millions during the year 2018-19. Rice (including Basmati and Non Basmati) occupy the major share in India's total cereals export with 95.7% during the same period. Whereas, other cereals including wheat represent only 4.3 % share in total cereals exported from India during this period.

Major Export Destinations (2018-19): Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE , Nepal and Iraq.

Total production of rice during 2019-20 is estimated at record 117.47 million tonnes. It is higher by 9.67 million tonnes than the five years' average production of 107.80 million tonnes. Production of wheat during 2019-20 is estimated at record 106.21 million tonnes.Feb 18, 2020.

Future prospects

The simplest method for projecting future production of cereals in India is to extrapolate past growth trends. Assuming that total cereal production will continue to grow at 2.7 percent per year, then by 2020 production will be 347 million tons, or more than twice the production level achieved in 1993. But such an extrapolation seems unrealistic, since the underlying sources of growth during the past quarter century have largely run their course and new sources of production growth must be found. Further expansion of the irrigated area will be more costly, and agriculture must increasingly compete with other water users (e.g. industry and urban households) for limited water resources. In addition, the Green Revolution technologies have already spread widely in the areas where they are most economic. There is now limited scope for further production gains from the greater use of improved varieties and fertilizers. Resource degradation is also impacting on productivity growth in irrigated and rainfed areas; unless corrected, it could become a significant constraint on future cereal production growth rates.

Given the constraints to traditional sources of growth, new sources of growth will have to be found. Projections of future cereals production need, therefore, to be based on more detailed analysis of the technology and economic options available for different types of areas.

Possibilities for Future Growth

Production prospects differ for irrigated and rainfed areas. They also differ for different types of rainfed areas, particularly between high-potential and low-potential rainfed areas. Virtually no productive land remains uncultivated in India today, so there is little scope for increasing the cultivated area in any of the three types of areas. Not only is the remaining land relatively unproductive, but bringing it under cultivation would entail high environmental costs, including deforestation and soil erosion. Future growth will therefore have to continue to depend on yield increases, and this will require the continued spread of yield-enhancing technologies, improved natural resource management, and greater technical efficiency. In some of the most productive areas, research is needed to boost potential yields in order to create a new source of yield growth. On the other hand, in many other areas there are still large yield gaps between farmers’ yields and demonstration plots, suggesting that significant gains could be made just by spreading existing technology. Another imperative is to minimize natural resource degradation, which threatens to undermine the gains already made.