[Smart Farmers] From ancient times to the present, from small to large, how has it influenced the world? Uncovering the "global journey" of wheat

Have you ever thought that every meal we eat is influenced by an ancient and powerful plant? That plant is wheat - one of the world's oldest food crops and one of its most important.

Wheat has been with humankind for about 12,000 years, starting from the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Mesopotamian Basin. Its existence has not only shaped our food culture, but also influenced the global economic landscape.

So how did wheat impact the world? Let's take a closer look at this ancient and important grain crop.

Wheat is a general term for plants of the genus Triticeae, with the representative species being common wheat (scientific name: Triticum aestivum L.), which belongs to the grass family. In the history of human cultivation of wheat, it has evolved from one-grain wheat to two-grain wheat, and then to the current common wheat.

Wheat is widely distributed all over the world due to its strong adaptability, from inland to coastal areas, from basins to plateaus. Because it prefers cool and humid climates, it is mainly planted between 67 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees south latitude, especially in Eurasia and North America in the northern hemisphere, and its planting area accounts for about 90% of the world's total wheat area.

Of the world's total wheat area, winter wheat accounts for about 75%, and the rest is spring wheat. Spring wheat is mainly concentrated in Russia, the United States, Canada and other countries, accounting for about 90% of the world's total spring wheat area. The main wheat producing areas are in Asia, accounting for about 45% of the world's wheat area, followed by Europe, accounting for 25%, North America accounting for 15%, Africa, Oceania and South America each accounting for about 5%.

At present, there are more than 50 countries in the world with wheat production exceeding 1.3 million tons, of which 14 countries exceed 10 million tons, namely China, India, the United States, Russia, France, Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, and the United Kingdom. Poland, Egypt, and Argentina are all above 9 million tons, and Spain, Romania, and Italy are all above 7 million tons.

Wheat is the world's largest staple food crop and an important food source for human life. About 35%-40% of the world's population relies on wheat as their staple food. After ordinary wheat grains are ground into flour, they can be processed into a variety of foods such as bread, steamed buns, noodles, instant noodles, biscuits, cakes, fried dough sticks, fried cakes, fire cakes, flatbreads, pancakes, dumplings, buns, wontons, and pizza, which is popular among Westerners; durum wheat flour can be used to make durum wheat noodles and macaroni, which are popular among Westerners. Floating wheat (immature grains) can also be used as a material for traditional Chinese medicine, and wheat seedling juice is one of the popular health foods in recent years. Wheat bran, a byproduct of wheat grain grinding, can be used as a concentrated feed for poultry and livestock. In addition, it can also be used as a raw material for brewing, soy sauce, vinegar, maltose, and koji (a kind of wine koji).

Wheat grains are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and a variety of mineral elements beneficial to the human body. They are easy to process and durable in storage and transportation. They are not only the raw material for processing various staple and non-staple foods in most countries in the world, but also the main reserve food of various countries and the main food variety in the world food trade.

Asia and Europe are both major wheat producing and consuming continents. Asia's production is insufficient to meet demand, so imports are needed. Africa's wheat production is very low, but its consumption is relatively high, so large imports are needed. Although North America and Oceania's production is not very high, their consumption ratio is low, and most of it is used for export. South America's total production and consumption are basically the same. This supply and demand structure also determines that wheat has the characteristics of global tradability.

Produced by: Popular Science in China to Benefit Farmers

Scientific Advisor: Zhao Guangcai/PhD Researcher Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Co-ordinators: Liao Danfeng, Zheng Fengmao, Wang Changhai, Zhang Ruijie

Planning: Wu Yuetong and Lin Jiaxin

Editor: Wu Yuetong