Grains are a section of food commodities that are traded in large volumes. Grains are non-processed foods such as rice, wheat, pulses, millets and all types of beans. Whole grains are considered unprocessed, and they are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Whole grains normally need to be ground prior to use in cooking or baking. They are recommended for use primarily in regions that are familiar with processing and cooking these types of commodities.
Whole grains and pulses are cleaned but not ground, milled or heated. Grains have a long shelf life if stored under cool conditions and low humidity. Hence, production and trading of grain commodities is an easy and profitable business that has greatly increased. Some of the whole grains are corn, sorghum, and wheat and some pulses are dry beans and lentils. Large-kernel white corn and yellow corn are used in most parts of the world because of their abundance, low price and widespread acceptance. Whole corn is widely used in emergency programs, both by relief agencies and recipient country governments. Sorghum is an unprocessed whole grain used as a staple in parts of Asia and Africa. It has limited utility, as it can present problems of digestibility if processing is not done as required. Wheat is widely accepted, but requires more processing when compared to other whole grains that are converted into food. It can be either soft or hard in texture and white or red in color, and they are processed making different products like bread, semolina or pasta. Rice is the grain commodity next to wheat that is widely accepted and used in most of the regions. Processing rice grains is the simplest and requires less machinery, and preservation is also easier.
All or most of the grains are available in significant volumes and apart from domestic uses; they are used in all categories of food aid programs.
Author: Richard Romando
Commodities provides detailed information on Commodities, Commodity Future, Commodity Brokers, Commodity Trading and more. Commodities is affiliated with Savings Bonds.
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