Cereal production areas

Geographically, the largest cereal production areas are in regions with temperate conditions, such as Europe, North America and cooler parts of Australia and China. 

Most of the thiamine sold worldwide is used for dietary supplements. Primary market areas include the following appHcations addition to feed formulations, eg, poultry, pigs, catde, and fish (see Feeds and feed additives) fortification of refined foods, eg, flours, rice, and cereal products and incorporation into multivitamins. Small amounts are used in medicine to treat deficiency diseases and other conditions, in agriculture as an additive to ferti1i2ers (qv), and in foods as flavorings. Generally for dry formulations, the less soluble, nonhygroscopic nitrate is preferred. Only the hydrochloride can be used for intravenous purposes. Coated thiamine is used where flavor is a factor. 

Fig. 24.2. Growth of cereal yield and area in cereal production in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa between 1961 and 2001 (1961 = 100 for yield and area).

A number of changes took place in the Sixties that will influence the marketing of agricultural chemicals in the Seventies among them are the expansion of the number of producers, many of whom are in both pesticides and fertilizers, the decline in the number of farms and the increasing size of the farm enterprise the expansion of services to the farmer by retail outlets. Opportunities in the product area include selective systemics to replace products that have become ineffective, new systemic soil nematocides, new systemic foliar fungicides for cereals and fruits. Sales of basic toxicants at the manufacturers9 level will reach 700 million in 1968, over 1 billion by the mid-Seventies. 

The total land area of the world is about 35 billion acres. By far, the largest crop harvested is wood, a lignocellulosic material, growing on 10 billion acres (44), In contrast 1,200 million acres are devoted to cereal production. Associated with the wood agriculture are large quantities of low-quality wood and non-utilized residues, which in the U. S. can amount to much more than 100 million tons per year (46), Where concentrated, these forms of wood offer an attractive inducement for economic exploitation. An increasing amount of these materials is being chipped and sold to pulp companies, yet a considerable amount remains unused. 

Activity in the functional bakery and cereals products market has been very fragmented to date, and has tended to concentrate on two areas fortification with vitamins and minerals, and the benefits of high-fibre and oat-containing products. 

There is growing interest in the use of cereal straws such as wheat straw for animal feed after increasing its digestibility by various methods, or as a raw material for paper and board production. This is particularly important in areas with limited forest resources (1). For all these purposes a good physicochemical characterisation of cereal straw is necessary. 

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