Which crop has maximum productivity among the cereals?

🔑 Key Points
→ Maize has the maximum productivity among the cereals.
→ In India, maize is the 3rd most important food crop after rice and wheat.
→ It contains abundant starch (65%).
→ About 35% of production is consumed by humans, 25% by poultry and cattle feed, and 15% by food processing.
→ Of all the cereals produced in India, rice has the largest production.
→ It is a part of the staple diet of more than half of the Indians.

📝 Additional Information
→ MAIZE GRAIN TYPES

→ Maize grain type — Botanical name — Characters

→ Flint corn — Zea mays indurata — The entire outer portion of the kernel is hard starch.
→ Dent corn — Zea mays indentata — About 95% of production in the USA is dent corn. The amylose of soft starch in the core contracts when the grain is dried, producing a characteristic dent in the top of the kernel.
→ Sweet corn — Zea mays saccharata — Grown for food and harvested at 70% moisture content.
→ Flour corn — Zea mays amylacea — Kernel is largely composed of soft starch with little or no hard starch.
→ Popcorn — Zea mays everta — Its kernel is a small and extreme form of flint corn. When heated to 170°C, the grain swells and bursts, turning inside out.
→ Waxy corn — Zea mays ceretina — Due to the waxy appearance of the kernel, it is called waxy corn. The starch is entirely amylopectin, whereas dent corn has 78% amylose and 22% amylopectin.