Dealers in grains

The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, maize, and rice.

The grain trade is probably nearly as old as grain growing, going back the Neolithic Revolution ( around 9,000 BC ). Wherever there is a scarcity of land (e.g. cities) people must bring in food from outside to sustain themselves, either by force or by trade. However, many farmers throughout history (and today) have operated at the subsistence level, meaning they produce for household needs and have little leftover to trade. The goal for such farmers in not to specialize in one crop and grow a surplus of it, but rather to produce everything his family needs and become self-sufficient. Only in places and eras where production is geared towards producing a surplus for trade (commercial agriculture), does a major grain trade become possible.

Early trade was most likely by barter, and because hauling large amounts of grain around was so difficult with ancient technology, the trade was probably quite limited in terms of the volume traded and the area moved. The development of the money economy and the wheel would have facilitated a much more expansive trade.

In the ancient world, grain regularly flowed from the hinterlands to the cores of great empires: maize in ancient Mexico, rice in ancient China, and wheat and barley in the ancient Near East. With this came improving technologies for storing and transporting grains; the Hebrew Bible makes frequent mention to ancient Egypt's massive grain silos.

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