Cereal crop
The word cereal is derived from roman word ‘ cereas’, The Roman Godess of grains. Cereal crops are members of the grass family grown for their edible starchy seeds. Its fruit is called caryopsis.
Pseudo cereal crop
They are the member of non- grass family that are used in much the same way as cereals. Eg : Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum(z) , family polygonaceae); Amaranth (Amaranthus spp. , family Amaranthaceae) , chenopodium(Chenopodium spp. Family Amaranthaceae ).
Present status of cereal crop production
Ranking of cereal in world : Wheat , rice , maize
Ranking of cereal in Nepal : Rice , maize , wheat , fingermillet , barley , buckwheat.
|
S.N |
Cultivated area (ha) |
Cultivated area (ha) |
Production (tons) |
Productivity/ yield (tons/ha) |
|
1 |
Rice |
14,25,346 |
47,88,612 |
3.36 |
|
2 |
maize |
8,82,395 |
21,45,291 |
2.43 |
|
3 |
Wheat |
7,62,373 |
19,75,625 |
2.59 |
|
4 |
Finger millet |
2,68,050 |
3,08,488 |
1.15 |
|
5 |
Barley |
28,053 |
37,354 |
1.33 |
|
6 |
Buckwheat |
10,819 |
10,870 |
1 |