生产

粮食是指烹饪食品中，作为主食的各种植物种子总称，也可概括称为“谷物”。粮食有基本是属于禾本科植物，所含营养物质主要为醣类，主要是淀粉，其次是蛋白质。

联合国粮食及农业组织（下称粮农组织）的粮食概念就是指谷物，包括麦类、粗粮和稻谷类三大类。

粮食主要包括：

• 麦类
  • 小麦
  • 大麦
    • 皮麦
    • 青稞（元麦）
  • 黑麦
  • 燕麦（莜麦）
• 稻类（大米）
  • 粳稻
  • 籼稻
  • 糯稻
  • 陆稻（旱稻）
  • 深水稻
• 粗粮类
  • 玉米
  • 高粱
  • 荞麦
  • 粟（谷子、小米）
  • 黍（糜子）

此外尚有作为补充主食用的粮食作物：

• 小豆
• 绿豆
• 木薯
• 番薯（红薯、白薯）
• 马铃薯（土豆）

生产

The following table shows annual production of major cereal grains, in 1961 and 2005, ranked by 2005 production. All but buckwheat and quinoa are true grasses (these two are pseudocereals).

Grain	2005 (Mt)	1961 (Mt)
玉米	711,762,871	205,004,683	A staple food of peoples in North America, South America, and Africa and of livestock worldwide; often called "corn" or "Indian corn" in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
小麦	630,556,602	222,357,231	The primary cereal of temperate regions
稻	621,588,528	284,654,697	The primary cereal of tropical regions
大麦	139,220,431	72,411,104	Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat
高粱	59,722,088	40,931,625	Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock
小米	30,302,450	25,703,968	A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa.
燕麦	24,032,521	49,588,769	Formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide for livestock
裸麦	15,202,142	35,109,990	Important in cold climates
Triticale	12,962,777	0	Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye
Buckwheat	2,127,823	2,478,596	Used in Europe and Asia. Major uses include various pancakes and groats
Fonio	284,578	178,483	Several varieties of which are grown as food crops in Africa
Quinoa	58,443	32,435	Ancient pseudocereal, grown in the Andes