Groat Crops

plants yielding grain that is basically used for making groats. The majority of groat crops, such as rice, millet, foxtail millet, green foxtail, raggee, and sorghum, are of the family Gramineae; buckwheat, however, is of the family Polygonaceae. The grain of groat crops is rich in carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins. The grain is processed into flour, starch, and alcohol; it is also used for bird and pig feed. The straw is fed to livestock.

Groat crops are grown throughout the world. Rice is cultivated primarily in India, Pakistan, China, Japan, and North Vietnam. Millet and sorghum are raised in India, Nigeria, and the United States. Buckwheat is cultivated in Poland, Bulgaria, France, the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and elsewhere. Green foxtail and foxtail are grown in China, and raggee is raised in North Africa and India. In 1971 the world cultivated area of groat crops (rice, sorghum, millet, and buckwheat) was 256.1 million hectares (ha); the gross grain harvest was 408.3 million tons. In the USSR, rice, millet, and buckwheat are considered as groat crops. In 1971, 4.6 million hectares of these three crops were planted in the USSR, with a gross grain harvest of 4.65 million tons.