Cereals

Foxtail millet is the second most widely planted species of the smaller cereals that are known as ‘millets‘. It is an old crop which was already used in China over 7000 years ago.

Rice is a tropical cereal, but it also grows in some temperate regions with a warmer climate.

It is the second most important cereal in the world after maize. In the tropics it’s the primary cereal for human consumption. Rice is the main staple food for half the world’s population.

Four species in the genus Zizania are known as wild rice, but they should not be confused with Asian rice (Oryza sativa), which is a plant in a different genus.

Of all species the grains can be used as a cereal, but the Manchurian wild rice is nowadays mainly cultivated in China to use the thickened stems as a vegetable.

Job’s tears is a tropical plant in the grasses family which is sometimes used as a cereal. It is also sometimes grown as an ornamental plant.

In China it is used together with other herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.

Fonio or White fonio (Digitaria exilis) is a cereal crop grown in the savannas of West Africa. It has very small seeds and is therefore one of the cereals that are called “millets”. Sometimes it is called “hungry rice”.

A related species Digitaria iburua is called Black fonio.

Spelt is a primitive type of wheat. It is an annual plant in the grasses family (Poaceae) which was already cultivated as a cereal 8 – 9,000 years ago.

Spelt wheat originates from the Fertile Crescent of the Near East, the same region where also other early cereals such as emmer wheat and barley were grown.

Canary grass is a relatively unknown cereal which is grown mainly for birdseed. This plant which belongs to the grasses family (Poaceae) originates from the Mediterranean region.

Most canary grass is produced in Canada and Thailand.

Oat is a cereal that used to be the staple food for people in Scotland. In most other countries its main use is as a fodder for livestock. When oats are used for human consumption it is often in the form of oatmeal or rolled oats which are used to prepare oat porridge or oat cookies.

Rye is closely related to wheat and barley. It grows in temperate climates and is the most winter hardy of all cereals.

Rye is usually grown for its grain, which can be used to make dark (sometimes almost black) rye bread, but can also be used as a fodder crop.

Sorghum is an important cereal in relatively drier tropical regions. Usually it is grown for the grain, as a fodder crop or as a biofuel. Globally it is now the 5th important cereal after maize, rice, wheat and barley, but in Africa it is the second most important cereal after maize.

In the highlands of Ethiopia the main staple food grown is Tef or Teff, which is a very fine grass-like cereal. Tef flour is used to prepare ‘injera’ or ‘enjera’, which is a soft spongy bread that looks like a pancake. In a few other countries tef is grown to produce hay as a fodder crop.

Wheat is worldwide the third most-important cereal after maize and rice, but it is the most important cereal of the temperate regions. It has been cultivated domestically for at least 11,000 years. Wheat flour has many uses, but its main use is to make bread, a staple food for many people around the world.

The genus Sorghum includes several species. Sorghum bicolor is grown as a cereal crop while other species are used as fodder crops. Sorghum spp are grown throughout the drier tropics.

Finger millet is a cereal grown mainly in drier regions of Africa and Asia. Seeds are used to make flour which can be used to make bread, porridge or pancakes.

In some regions finger millet is used for human consumption as a staple food. Seeds are also used as animal feed.

Barley was one of the first cereals cultivated by man. It is one of the eight neolithic founder crops, which were plant species that were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent region by early farming communities.

Barley is still a very important cereal crop. Worldwide, it is the fourth important cereal crop (after maize, rice and wheat.

Pearl millet originates from tropical Africa and is an important food crop in parts of Africa and in the Indian sub continent.

The grains can be ground into flour, which is used to prepare a porridge. Malt of pearl millet can be used to brew beer. Pearl millet is also grown as a forage crop, for grazing, silage and hay.

Einkorn is one of the oldest agricultural crops. It is one of the eight neolithic founder crops, which were plant species that were domesticated by early farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region.

Triticum durum is the hardest of all wheats. The word durum in Latin means hard.

An important use of durum is to make Italian pastas such as macaroni and spaghetti. Another name for Durum wheat is Macaroni wheat.