Corn

Corn is a cereal grain that is widespread throughout the world. It's also called maize. Corn is a shortened form of "Indian corn", i.e. the Indian grain. Corn is the largest crop in all of the world. Corn is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of corn is produced each year than any other grain. Top producing countries are as widespread as the US, China, Brazil, France, Indonesia, India and South Africa.

Because it is cold-intolerant, in the temperate zones maize must be planted in the spring. Corn used for silage is harvested while the plant is green and the fruit immature. Sweet corn is harvested in the "milk stage", after pollination but before starch has formed, between late summer and early to mid-autumn. Field corn is left in the field very late in the autumn in order to thoroughly dry the grain, and may, in fact, sometimes not be harvested until winter or even early spring.