Corn
Corn (lat. Zéa mays ) is a large genus of annual grains, which grains are formed in the specific inflorescence - the cob. Sweet corn (Zeamays) is the only cultural representative of this genus of the family Gramineae (Poaceae), which, in turn, is divided into 9 the following Botanical groups, which are distinguished by the structure of the grain, and its morphology:
- siliceous (Zeamaysimdurata)
- odontoid (Zeamaysindentata)
- used (Zeamayssemidentata)
- bursting (Zeamayseverta)
- sugar (Zeamayssaccharata)
- starchy or mealy (Zeamaysamylacea)
- starch-sugar (Zeamaysamyleosaccharata)
- waxy (Zeamaysceratina)
- filmy (Zeamaystunicata).
From the perspective of biochemistry corn are rich in essential for the human body with vitamins and minerals. In this cereal contains carbohydrates, essential and fatty oils, carotene, resins, alkaloids, ascorbic acid, vitamins K, B1, B2, E, C, P, PP, phosphorus, potassium, fluorine, molybdenum, copper, iodine, and other useful substances.
The results of the research indicate high biological and nutritional value of this plant, which makes it indispensable food product. Of course, its primary use is the food industry, but other than that, this culture is also widely used in medicine, industrial paints, synthetic fibers and rubber substitutes. The vegetative parts of the plant are used for paper production, construction materials, additives to improve the quality of soil. And cabbage stalk of corn produced raw materials required in the manufacture of nylon and plastics.
Given the high value of this cereal in the world for corn requires approximately 132 million ha, and the annual grain harvest this major crops is more than 450 million tons, yielding less than 10% only the wheat harvest.
Ukraine is among the 15 leading manufacturers of this cereal, occupying the 10th position in terms of production. In Ukraine, this plant is grown in all soil-climatic zones, and the main crops are located in Cherkasy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Sumy regions.
In our country a favorable climate and fertile soil make it possible to collect the average t/ha of this crop, and in a good year this figure reached a record 60 kg/ha Over the last two years in Ukraine crops increased by 2 million hectares This part of the program "Grain of Ukraine", according to which half of the grain produced in Ukraine, will become corn.
It should be noted that this culture is the most important article of the Ukrainian agricultural exports: according to statistics, in our country the sale of corn abroad is two thirds of the exports of grain in General.
