Which are crops do farmers grow?

FARM CROPS

All our plant foods are grown on farms of some kind – from the huge wheat and maize fields of North America, to the banana plantations and coconut groves of the tropics. The crops we harvest today are descended from plants that once grew wild, but which have been bred to give high yields of juicy fruit, edible seeds, or rich vegetable oils.

  • Maize

The “corn” grown in the Americas is actually Maize, a giant grass that grows well in sunny climates. Its big kernels can be cooked and eaten as they are, or ground into flour to make tortillas and corn chips.

  • Soya Beans

High in protein and rich in oil, soya beans were once known only in the Far East. Now popular with vegetarians, they are grown in warm climates worldwide.

  • Rice

One of the world’s three staple foods – along with maize and wheat – rice is a type of grass that grows in warm climates. It is usually cultivated in flooded “paddy” fields, which cover large areas of the tropics.

  • Cocoa

The main ingredient of chocolate, cocoa beans come from the pods of the cocoa tree, grown mainly in West Africa and tropical America. The beans are first left to ferment in the sun, then dried, roasted, and either ground into powder or made into cocoa butter.

  • Potatoes

The potato is the tuber (storage root) of a plant related to tomatoes. It was brought to Europe from South America in the 16th century, and since then it has become one of the world’s main foods.

  • Wheat

Wheat is the most important grain crop in mild northern climates, where it is cultivated on a vast scale. A member of the grass family, wheat has been bred to have large seeds for grinding into flour.

  • Tomatoes

Closely related to potatoes, and introduced from the same region of South America in the late 1500s, the tomato is now grown almost worldwide.

  • Tea

The leaves used to make tea come from an evergreen bush that grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates. It is cultivated mainly in China and India, where the leaves are hand-picked and quickly dried. Leaf tea can be used as it is, or in paper tea bags.

  • Grapes

One of the oldest cultivated plants, the grape was grown by Ancient Egyptians 6,000 years ago. Planted in permanent vineyards in warm climates, grapes are harvested for winemaking, eating fresh and drying as raisins, sultanas, and currants.

  • Sunflowers

The spectacular blooms of sunflowers are made up of hundreds of big seeds. These can be eaten as snacks, but most are processed to produce oil, which is used in cooking. Bees love sunflowers, and turn the nectar into honey.

  • Sugar cane

Grown on plantations in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, sugar cane is the thick stalk of a large grass. More than half the world’s sugar comes from sugar cane. It is also made into alcohol used in biofuels (fuels made from renewable organic material, such as plants).

  • Bananas

Bananas grow in bunches of up to 200, sprouting from clusters of huge leaves that shoot up from fleshy roots. They are a valuable crop throughout the tropics, and are usually cut while green so they are perfectly yellow and ripe when sold.

  • Coffee

Coffee is one of the most valuable crops produced in the tropics. It is made from the seeds of a small tree. Each red berry contains two seeds, or beans, which are dried in the sun before being roasted and ground.

  • Coconuts

The big nuts of the coconut palm are an important crop on many Pacific islands. The fibrous husk is used for matting and rope making. The white “meat” of the nuts is used for food, either fresh, desiccated (dried), as creamed coconut, or as coconut oil.

Picture Credit : Google

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