Wheat is perhaps the most common and important staple in the world, which is a fact realized by the 8 countries that produce the most wheat in the world. Introduced originally in Western Asia, wheat is now cultivated and harvested throughout the globe and is now one of the 3 most produced cereals in the world. In fact, the only cereals which are produced more than wheat are rice and maize. To know more about the companies which produce wheat and other crops, you can visit the 11 biggest agricultural companies in the world.
The growth of wheat encompasses the most land area for any commercially grown food in the world. Furthermore, the trade of wheat on a global scale is so impressive, that all the other crops in the world combined cannot compete. One of the reasons wheat has always been in such high demand is due to the fact that has a higher protein content than any other major cereal, hence providing nutrition to billions of people throughout the world.
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As mentioned earlier, wheat has been grown and consumed for thousands of years, originating in Asia. In fact, the earliest traces of the cultivation of wheat have been discovered through archaeological efforts in the Fertile Crescent, which has been home to some of the earliest civilizations on the face of this earth.
The production of wheat has grown in recent times, due to the advancement in technology, which in turn has led to better soil preparation and the planting of seeds at the most opportune times. Furthermore, this has also led to an improvement in the types of fertilizer used, not to mention the use of crop rotation in order to ensure that the soil remains fertile instead of all the nutrients being used up and the land becoming arid.
Crop rotation has played a significant part in the growth of the production of wheat. As crop rotation was introduced, land which had been cultivated for a long period of time, remained fertile instead of becoming arid, thus boosting the production of wheat.
As mentioned earlier, wheat is one of the most consumed crops in the world. Raw wheat is perfect for grinding into flour, and this process is generally carried out at mills. Raw wheat can also be broken in parts at the mill, with the outer part or the husk being used for various purposes.
Wheat is used as the main ingredient in a variety of foods such as crackers, porridge, bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, doughnuts and rolls among various others. Wheat contains many nutrients which are essential to the health of humans, such as manganese, protein, niacin and phosphorus.
One of the main reasons that wheat is so popular is due to the fact that it can be grown in a variety of temperatures and conditions, from freezing conditions to areas located near the equator, and from areas located at sea level to areas located thousands of meters above sea level.
Furthermore, it is very easy to store wheat as grain for a long period of time while it is also easy to convert into flour, and thus easy to convert into various types of delicious dishes. Due to most countries possessing the ability to grow wheat, it is the most important source of carbohydrate for many countries in the world.
Wheat generally also does not cause any allergies in people, with around 99% of the people globally being able to digest food without any issues whatsoever. Red and white wheat are the most popular forms of wheat, but other types of wheat exist as well, many of which have been genetically modified in order to produce more nutritious wheat.
To find out which are the countries that produce the most wheat in the world we gathered data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Tens of millions of metric tonnes are produced of the crop every single year. In fact, there are over 30 countries that produced over 2 million metric tonnes of wheat in 2014. Without further ado, here are the countries that dominate the wheat production world: