Friday, February 11, 2011

Canary seed , Alpiste, Phalaris canariensis

Canary seed grass is a native of a Mediterranean region. It is used mostly as a bird food, but  it can be used for  human consumption also. It might cause an esophageal cancer though, if you are not careful, unless you use spike less variety. Microscopic spikes of canary seeds annoy /kill esophageal cells, so their neighbors have to breed faster, and as a result the chance for cancerous mutation is bigger. Right now  canary seed is used as food by North Africa, Italy, parts of Spain and Mexico.
Only 12 countries are growing canary seed / alpiste commercially according to FAO.org, but  the number is more likely to be 10 as Morocco and Netherlands apparently are out of the picture of the canary seed business. Biggest producer both by volume and  per capita is Canada,  141 900 t  of canaryseed produced in 2009. That's about 4.13 kg of canary seed per Canadian. Worldwide,  196 150 tonnes were produced (2009), or 28.4 grams  per potential consumer.
World crop could  provide nutrition for  about 1 mln people.
 213 619 hectares were used for canary seed production in 2009 , a territory close to the size of Comoros islands.

List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html


Best crop ever was in 2004 (378 042 tonnes), worst since 1961-- 47 408 tonnes (1966)
Best global yields were 1212.9 kg/ha in 1990, worst since 1961-- 664.6 kg/ha in 1977.
Record yield belongs to Czech republic , 3500 kg/ha, on some small experimental field. Aside of that, top yield was 1742.8 kg/ha in Turkey (2006)
Canaryseed costs around $1000 per ton,  world crop is about $ 190-210 million worth.

Production by country,              2007            2008            2009
Argentina
Canary seed
9050
10023
9763
Australia
Canary seed
4000F 5000F
M
Canada
Canary seed
162000
195600
141900
Czech Republic
Canary seed
700
700

M
Hungary
Canary seed
5972
12343
5389
Mexico
Canary seed
183
227

M
Morocco
Canary seed
0F 0F
M
Netherlands
Canary seed

M
M
M
Spain
Canary seed
70F 70F
M
Thailand
Canary seed
30000F 30000Fc30000Fc
Turkey
Canary seed
62
17
61
Uruguay
Canary seed
2800F 3040F
M
World + (Total)
Canary seed
214837A 257020A 196150A

2 comments:

  1. http://www.vitacanas.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. We grow all of our own product to ensure complete quality control.
    You will not find ANY product out there that is higher Quality that our Alpiste (Canary Seed)

    In the past decade more and more people are using Canary seed as a dietary suppliment to loose weight, stay regular! Be HEALTHIER!

    Facts:

    - Canary seed has antioxidant activity close to that of vitamin C.
    - Canary seed has 9 grams of protein per 5 tablespoon serving
    - Canaryseed is a good source of iron, providing 3 mg per 5-tablespoon serving

    Please email us for order inquiries! vitacanas@gmail.com
    www.vitacana.com

    ReplyDelete