Nigeria - Cereal production (metric tons)

The value for Cereal production (metric tons) in Nigeria was 26,216,280 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 30,209,000 in 2008 and a minimum value of 5,809,000 in 1972.

Definition: Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 7,891,000
1962 8,324,000
1963 8,203,000
1964 8,105,000
1965 8,413,000
1966 6,140,000
1967 7,375,000
1968 7,408,000
1969 8,799,000
1970 8,981,000
1971 8,328,000
1972 5,809,000
1973 8,243,000
1974 10,285,000
1975 8,348,000
1976 7,161,000
1977 6,957,000
1978 6,004,000
1979 6,439,000
1980 7,788,000
1981 8,053,000
1982 8,468,000
1983 8,828,000
1984 10,503,000
1985 11,889,000
1986 14,661,320
1987 15,917,000
1988 16,560,000
1989 18,007,000
1990 17,678,000
1991 18,615,000
1992 19,597,000
1993 20,090,600
1994 20,373,200
1995 22,512,600
1996 21,665,000
1997 21,853,000
1998 22,040,000
1999 22,405,000
2000 21,370,000
2001 20,090,000
2002 21,373,000
2003 22,736,000
2004 24,321,000
2005 26,031,000
2006 28,864,000
2007 27,171,000
2008 30,209,000
2009 21,267,630
2010 24,650,300
2011 20,699,530
2012 21,427,120
2013 19,617,690
2014 24,517,390
2015 25,452,060
2016 28,363,680
2017 25,616,050
2018 26,216,280

Development Relevance: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that cereals supply 51 percent of Calories and 47 percent of protein in the average diet. The total annual cereal production globally is about 2,500 million tons. FAO estimates that maize (corn), wheat and rice together account for more than three-fourths of all grain production worldwide. In developed countries, cereal crops are universally machine-harvested, typically using a combine harvester, which cuts, threshes, and winnows the grain during a single pass across the field. In many industrialized countries, particularly in the United States and Canada, farmers commonly deliver their newly harvested grain to a grain elevator or a storage facility that consolidates the crops of many farmers. In developing countries, a variety of harvesting methods are used in cereal cultivation, depending on the cost of labor, from small combines to hand tools such as the scythe or cradle. Crop production systems have evolved rapidly over the past century and have resulted in significantly increased crop yields, but have also created undesirable environmental side-effects such as soil degradation and erosion, pollution from chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals and a loss of bio-diversity. Factors such as the green revolution, has led to impressive progress in increasing cereals yields over the last few decades. This progress, however, is not equal across all regions. Continued progress depends on maintaining agricultural research and education. The cultivation of cereals varies widely in different countries and depends partly upon the development of the economy. Production depends on the nature of the soil, the amount of rainfall, irrigation, quality of seeds, and the techniques applied to promote growth.

Limitations and Exceptions: Data on cereal production may be affected by a variety of reporting and timing differences. Millet and sorghum, which are grown as feed for livestock and poultry in Europe and North America, are used as food in Africa, Asia, and countries of the former Soviet Union. So some cereal crops are excluded from the data for some countries and included elsewhere, depending on their use. The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires and are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. Thus, data on agricultural land in different climates may not be comparable. For example, permanent pastures are quite different in nature and intensity in African countries and dry Middle Eastern countries. The data collected from official national sources.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: A cereal is a grass cultivated for the edible components of their grain, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop; cereal crops therefore can also be called staple crops. Cereals production data relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) allocates production data to the calendar year in which the bulk of the harvest took place. Most of a crop harvested near the end of a year will be used in the following year.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Agricultural production