Some kinds of seeds are also important to humans because we eat them. Many of the cereals we eat are actually the seeds of plants. These include wheat (which we use to make flour for bread) and rice. Beans, peas, and nuts are also seeds. We even eat the oils that are pressed from some kinds of seeds. Cooking oil comes from the coconut seed. Olive oil comes from olive seeds.
Cloth can even come from seeds. Cotton comes from fibers that grow from the seeds of the cotton plant. Kapok also comes from fibers of the kapok seed.
Oil from the linseed is used to make paints. Oil from jojoba is used to make cosmetics. Oil from the castor seed and tea tree seed are used to make medicines.
People sometimes even use seeds to make jewelry. Seeds of the Job's tears plant, the lychee, and the rosary pea have been used as beads to make necklaces.
Because seeds are so important, farmers and scientists are looking for ways to make sure that there are plenty of seeds around. But seeds always have to come from plants first. Only plants have the special ability to make seeds.
As you can see, seeds are so small but so important. Seed farmers need to do a lot of things to make sure that they can harvest a lot of seeds. Without seeds, many farms will lie fallow and many people will go hungry.
