Production and consumption of grains (cereals) by the world and Malaysia
Christopher Teh Boon Sung
Posted on February 16th, 2011
The recent spike in food prices made me curious to know the past and current rate of grain (cereal) production and consumption by the world. I downloaded the USDA (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) data set from their website.
Grains supply nearly half of our energy needs in a day. Consequently, their sufficient production is essential to avoid a food crisis. (photo from 4.bp.blogspot.com)
Below shows the world production and consumption of grains (barley, maize, millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, wheat, and mixed grains) from 1960 to 2010.
World grain production and consumption (1960-2010)
From less than a billion tonnes of grains produced in 1960, the world is currently producing more than 2.1 billion tonnes. The world, of course, cannot consume more grains than it can produce, so the annual grain production is higher than the annual grain consumption, though some years see a slightly higher consumption of grains than their production. This higher consumption rate can occur when grains from world stock inventories held from previous years are consumed.
Worryingly, the mean annual increase of world grain production after 1990 is lower than the mean annual increase in world grain consumption.
