Description

Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maz after Taino: mahis 2]),

often known as corn in North American and Australian English,

is a cereal grain that was initially domesticated by indigenous

peoples in southern Mexico approximately 10,000 years ago. Maize is

a member of the Zea mays subsp. mays species. 3] 4] The plant's leafy

stalk gives rise to in"orescences, sometimes known as 5tassels,5 which

produce pollen and separate ovuliferous in"orescences called ears.

These in"orescences, when fertilized, yield kernels or seeds, which are

considered botanical fruits. 6] I] Fn formal, scientiHc, and international

usage, the term maize is favored as the common name since

it refers solely to this one grain, whereas the term corn refers to any

primary cereal crop that is farmed in a country. This preference for

the term maize as the common name can be explained as follows.

Wor instance, the term 5corn5 is typically used to refer to 5maize5 in

both North America and Australia. Gowever, in England and Cales,

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5corn5 can also mean 5wheat5 or 5barley,5 and in Scotland and Freland,

5corn5 refers to 5oats.5As a result of its widespread adoption as a

primary source of nutrition, maize now accounts for a greater proportion

of global grain production than either wheat or rice. Maize is

utilized not 7ust for human consumption 8often in the form of masa),

but also for the production of corn ethanol, animal feed, and other

maize-based goods such as corn starch and corn syrup. q] ...ent corn,

"int corn, pod corn, popcorn, "our corn, and sweet corn are the six

primary varieties of maize. Sweet corn is also known as popcorn. 9]

The kernels of sugar-rich varieties of corn, known as sweet corn, are

typically grown for human consumption, whereas Held corn varieties

are typically used for animal feed, various corn-based human food

uses 8such as grinding it into cornmeal or masa, pressing it into corn

oil, fermenting and distilling it into alcoholic beverages like bourbon

whiskey), and as feedstocks for the chemical industry. Sweet corn

varieties are typically grown for human consumption as kernels. Fn

addition, ethanol and various other types of biofuels can be made

from maize.Maize is the most fre;uently farmed grain in the world,

and each year, more maize is produced than any other type of grain

combined. U] The total amount of product produced all across the

world in 2021 was 1.2 billion tonnes 81.2 10U long tonsP 1.3 10U

short tons). Ft is estimated that in the year 2021, the Lnited States

of America alone will produce 394 million tonnes 83q9,000,000 long

tonsP 423,000,000 short tons) of maize. Maize is the grain crop that

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is grown more than any other in the Americas. source: missing citation]

Fn 200U, genetically modiHed maize accounted for 96 percent

of all of the corn that was planted in the Lnited States. 10] There is

a high degree of maize cultivation in the Lnited States, which helps

to account for the country's position