Reading Corner
C25-15th Aug
Maize is today the world’s second leading crop of any kind in terms of total production, behind only sugar
cane, and the leading cereal grain produced by a wide margin. Moreover, production has grown rapidly in
recent decades, with world maize output tripling between 1982 and 2019. In 2019, global maize
production reached 1,148 billion metric tons, while the totals for wheat and rice production each came to
about two-thirds of the level for maize in 2019, with wheat at 766 million metric tons, and paddy rice at
755 million metric tons.
The prominence of maize among cereal grains is readily understandable, for it has numerous advantages
on both the supply and demand sides. Regarding supply considerations: maize possesses great genetic
variability and is readily adaptable to a variety of climatic conditions, whether temperate or tropical; it can
be grown on a wide range of soil types and on soil of poor quality; its growing season, generally speaking,
is fairly short; it is less labour- and water-intensive than rice; and, as a so-called C4 plant, it fixes nitrogen
more efficiently than do C3 cereals such as rice and wheat. In Asia, it is often grown in hilly upland areas
unsuitable for many other crops. In Southeast Asia and East Asia, 80 per cent of the maize grown is
rain-fed, without the benefit of irrigation, although in some areas it is grown on irrigated paddy fields after
the rice harvest.
Turning to the demand side: no cereal grain is more versatile than maize, which can be employed
efficiently, effectively and, more to the point, profitably in a huge variety of ways. Indeed, its multifarious
uses and elusive, often cloaked identity render maize the quintessential postmodern crop. Not only does it
‘fuel’ humans and their stocks of animals, but also, when converted into the chemical compound ethanol,
the vehicles they drive. When converted into either sugar and syrup (or dextrose, which is chemically
indistinguishable from glucose) or corn starch (dextrin), it finds its way – often at an intermediate stage –
into a vast array of processed foods and finished products encountered in daily life. You name the food or
product, and it likely includes maize in some form – product categories such as paint, textiles, wallpaper,
soap, candles, newspapers, cigarettes, insecticides, dry batteries, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastic,
nitroglycerin and fireworks, shoe polish and ceiling tiles, to name just a few. As a result, maize, along with
soybeans and palm oil, is rightfully considered a ‘flex’ crop par excellence. Little wonder, then, that the
demand for maize in whatever form has become ubiquitous, and maize production is increasingly
pervasive all around the world, including in Asia.
Until relatively recently, the vast majority of the maize produced in Asia was used for human consumption.
In this regard, Thailand was a notable exception. Significant production of maize began later in Thailand
than in most other parts of Asia and, unlike these other areas, much of the maize produced in Thailand
was used as animal feed even early on. When employed for human consumption in Asia, maize found
many uses, sometimes as a staple – particularly among the poor in hilly areas – but also as a versatile
dietary supplement or complement, which could be eaten after roasting or grilling (often as a snack),
ground into flour and thence used in gruels, noodles, cakes, buns, etc, or employed as an ingredient in
soups, desserts, or in Korea as ‘tea’. Maize is also used in various alcoholic beverages in Asia, such as
the corn-based baijiu in China, Vietnamese corn wine, and a number of alcoholic beverages distilled from
maize in Darjeeling, Sikkim and other parts of India.
How things have changed. Since the 1980s – even earlier in some areas – the uses to which corn is put
in Asia have shifted dramatically. Whereas until then most of the corn produced in Asia was intended for
family consumption, for feeding animals on site, or for sale at local or regional markets, today the greatest
proportion of corn production by far is used as animal feed, often for agribusiness livestock aggregators,
particularly those raising and processing chickens and hogs, and those raising stock for the production of
eggs and dairy products. Another large component of the corn crop in Asia is used to produce bioethanol.
Moreover, these two uses help to explain why Asia imports a great deal of maize from other parts of the
world, and why it exports relatively little. In 2019, for example, Asian countries imported 78,240.2 million
tons of maize – more than 43 per cent of the world’s total – while exporting only 2,629.8 million tons, or a
little over 1.4 per cent. In this regard, the fact that most of the maize produced in Asia is still grown on
small, relatively inefficient units, and the fact that yields and overall productivity are much lower than in
the most advanced producing areas – the US, most notably – should be noted, for they help to explain the
prominent role of maize imports into Asia.
Q1)
Write down the central idea of the passage.
Solution
Ans 1)
Key ideas:
● The passage discusses why maize is a prominent cereal cultivated all over the world.
● Maize has several uses both on the supply side and the demand side.
● Till recently, the majority of the maize produced in Asia was used for human consumption, but of
late, it is mostly being used as animal feed and in other agrobusiness applications.
● Also, due to the low productivity of the maize grown in Asia, it imports more maize than it exports.
Central Idea:
Maize, a leading cereal grown across the world has numerous uses; in order to cater to the huge
demand for maize as animal feed and in agrobusiness, Asia currently imports more maize than it exports.
