Maize for grain

Maize is a tall annual grass plant with a strong, solid stem canying large narrow leaves. The male flowers are produced on a tassel at the top of the plant, and the female some distance away on one or more spikes in the axils of the leaves. This separation simplifles the production of hybrid seed. After wind pollination of the filament-like styles (silks), the grain develops in rows on the female spike (cob) to produce the maize ear in its surrounding husk leaves. 

Grain maize grows well in many southern countries in Europe, especially in France and Italy. Yields are very high averaging between 8 and 9t/ha of grain. With this yield, grain maize is the third most importatrt cereal in the EU after wheat and barley. Most of the maize crop is used for animal feed with a smaller amount milled for industrial use (starch) and for human consumption. There is an increasing market for maize for production of bioethanol. For crop husbandry see Chapter 18. 

There is a limited market for com-on-the-cob or sweet com as a vegetable. This latter is a special type of maize in which some of the sugar produced is not converted into starch and is harvested when the grain is in the milky stage. 

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