More maize is grown than any other plant around the world.
Ernest Smith, artiste iroquois de la tribu des Tsonnontouans, 1935
The 2000 year old plant — “maiz”, discovered in Central America – has travelled a great deal and adapted to many different points on the globe. It now thrives on all five continents, in thousands of varieties, from Europe to the wetlands of South-East Asia. It is a worldwide success story, first as animal feed, and also for a variety of applications – no wastage, everything can be used!
Maize today is an essential resource for feeding animals, being a staple animal feed and a guarantee of the quality of the meat produced. Farmers realise how valuable grain maize and silage maize are, with high energy content and at a reasonable price. The quality of products from maize-fed animals is widely recognised: foie gras, “red label” chicken, poultry from Bresse, and Bayonne ham are some of our most famous gastronomic produce and come directly from maize.
Maize is also included in the human diet, with its nutritional qualities and fine flavour. It is no random coincidence that maize consumption has been increasing: sweet corn is an ingredient in delicious salads, and maize-based recipes have inspired our finest cooks who also use the excellent meat from maize-fed animals. Sweet corn used for human consumption is low fat, high fibre and rich in Vitamin B. It is a staple food in many countries, such as Mexico or Central African countries. Americans consume large quantities of sweet corn and Europeans are developing a taste for it. Children love maize as fun snacks, for example, popcorn, corn chips and corn on the cob. It can be eaten in all sorts of forms: corn-flakes, pop-corn, salads, polenta, tortillas, corn chips, corn bread, baby food, crackers, biscuits, sauces, soups, chocolate and maize oil, or even as alcoholic beverages such as gin, whisky, bourbon and beer. Maize is a healthy product and makes excellent quality cooking oils.
Then there is cornstarch in different forms, playing a key role in green chemistry, being used in the pulp and paper industry and for making biodegradable plastics, while starch derivatives are used to make pharmaceuticals: antibiotics, vitamins and vaccines. With paper, plastic, detergents and pharmaceuticals – maize is everywhere!
An Environmentally-Friendly Plant
One hectare of maize produces 4 times more oxygen than a hectare of forestland, and absorbs 4 times as much carbon gas. The plant purifies the air and makes our countryside green and attractive in mid-summer, while also absorbing large quantities of nitrates needed for plant growth, helping restore a healthy balance to the soil. Even more importantly, when it breaks down after harvest, it traps large quantities of carbon in the earth, helping reduce the greenhouse effect. Maize is present in a large number of products, is biodegradable and renewable, and thus plays a key role in green chemistry.
Maize farmers were pioneers more than 15 years ago when they adopted a position as responsible citizens for water management. They realise just how valuable the resource is and use it with great care, consuming only the amount of water needed by their crops. In the summer of 2003, an unusually hot, dry year in France, they even agreed to make substantial cuts in their crop production so as to share the diminishing water resources with their fellow citizens. Maize farmers with irrigations systems have drawn up a Charter and made voluntary commitments under it.
Maize is also used to make “clean” fuel, i.e. the fuels of the future. Cornstarch, when fermented or distilled, can be used to make ethanol. It can then be added to a fuel as part of a low-pollution formula. The octane index of fuel can be raised and the lead replaced. The oxygen contained helps combust hydrocarbons and reduce the amount of carbon monoxide produced. Unlike almost all carbon-based fossil fuels, ethanol is a renewable hydrocarbon. One metric ton of maize produces 3.7 hectolitres of ethanol, as opposed to only 1 hectolitre for a ton of potato or sugar beet. One hectare of maize produces one and a half times more ethanol than a hectare of wheat, although, per ton, wheat produces slightly more ethanol. The European Commission has encouraged the production of grain-based ethanol. Unfortunately, French regulations and taxation have not provided sufficient incentive for using this ecological biofuel of the future, although recent measures have introduced a degree of flexibility on certain points.
More maize is grown than any other plant around the world.
