| Abstract |
In the concern over the current world food crisis, the importance of maize is often underestimated: hunger is commonly understood as a question of rice ahd wheat. Indeed, while maize is second in production only to wheat among food crops in the developed countries, by far the largest part of the harvest is fed to animals. The USA, for example, which annually harvests 140 million metric tons of maize, feeds 80 to 90 percent to animals, ultimately to be consumed as meat, milk, and eggs. But in the poorer countries of the world's hunger belt, where 70 percent of protein is provided by cereals eaten directly, maize is the third most important cereal; the staple food, and the major source of both total calories and vital proteins, for hundreds of millions of people. |
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