Definition: Cereals

Category: Agriculture

Cereals are herbaceous plants of the graminaceous family (with the exception of buckwheat) cultivated mainly for their grain. The quantities of cereals mixed with dry vegetables are entered in the balances 'dry vegetables'.
Whole cereals are used primarily for human consumption and animal feed. They are also used to produce drinks and industrial products (for example, adhesives and starch). 

They are stored whole and, to a lesser extent, in the form of processed products (especially the products of first-stage processing). They are mostly traded whole. The market for the by-products of the second-stage processing of cereals is in general a different market from the cereal market itself. This applies in particular to products intended for human consumption. 

The supply balances 'cereals' include both grain (raw product) and the by-products of grain (first and second-stage processing).