Grain

A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption.

This durability has made grains well suited to industrial agriculture, since they can be mechanically harvested, transported by rail or ship, stored for long periods in silos, and milled for flour or pressed for oil.

The pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes had grain-based food systems, but at higher elevations none of the grains belonged the cereal family.

[5][6] Because grains are small, hard and dry, they can be stored, measured, and transported more readily than can other kinds of food crops such as fresh fruits, roots and tubers.

[12] The development of grain agriculture allowed excess food to be produced and stored easily which could have led to the creation of the first temporary settlements and the division of society into classes.

[14] He argues that the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agrarian communities was not a voluntary choice driven by the benefits of increased food production due to the long storage potential of grains, but rather that the shift towards settlements was a coerced transformation imposed by dominant members of a society seeking to expand control over labor and resources.

Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agricultural products.

From the early modern period onward, grain trade has been an important part of colonial expansion and international power dynamics.