• 8"x 6" image size (10"x 8" paper size) / 200 prints / 11"x 14" matting size

Corn is native to the Americas but the origin of corn remains a mystery. Evidence exists that cultivated corn has existed in the southwestern United States for at least 3000 years. Recent evidence puts the appearance of wild corn in southern Mexico at about 4600 years ago. Early wild corn was not much different in fundamental characteristics from the modern corn plant.

The six general groups of varieties are differentiated by the characteristics of the kernel. Sweet corn is the type commonly grown in the United States for human consumption as a vegetable. The sugar produced by the sweet-corn plant is not converted to starch during growth, as it is in other types. Corn is an important food staple and animal feed. Although an excellent source of carbohydrates, it is low in total protein and must be supplemented with protein for satisfactory growth.

The most important advance in the cultivation of corn was the introduction of hybrids in about 1933. Hybrids have been developed to increase corn yields in many areas of the world. Hybrids do not transmit their increased vigor to their offspring, so that the parent stocks must be crossed each year to produce a new crop of hybrid seed. This is done by seed companies and farmers who specialize in the production of hybrid seed. Hybridization adds to the cost of the seed, but yield increases of 25 to 50 percent attributed to hybrid corn more than offset the cost. A major finding in 1978 was the rediscovery in Mexico of a species of perennial wild corn thought to be extinct. This corn could provide the basis for the development of a plant that would not need to be reseeded annually.

In production volume, corn ranked third behind wheat and rice. The U.S. is the leading corn-growing country, with most of its crop is grown in the Corn Belt, comprising Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Other leading corn-growing nations are China, Brazil, and Mexico.