Book excerpt: Cereal crops - the heart of world agriculture; Botany and physiology of cereal crops; Variability in cereal grains; Cereal crop yield - a systems approach; Cereal crop yield - improvement through genetics and plant breeding; Cereal crop yield - impact of environment; Production aspects: winter crops, hardiness and cold tolerance, summer fallow, soil salinity; Cereals as forages, livestock feeds, and in mixtures; Hybrids; Seed production and technology; Crop residues; Cereal crop quality; Cereal crop pests; International links to meet world food needs; Rice; Corn; Sorghum; Wheat; Rye; Triticale; Pearl millet; Barley and oat; Wild rice.