Wheat is the second-most produced crop on Earth, lagging behind only corn. Wheat provides a large fraction of the dietary protein and total food supply, and is grown all throughout the world, in a wide variety of climates. Wheat is a staple crop, grown as a primary food product and for other uses as well. In this article, we will talk about the origin and history of wheat as a cultivated crop, the many uses for wheat, and how wheat is grown today in the United States and around the world.
Wheat is perhaps the oldest domesticated plant). According to paleobotanists and archaeologists, the modern domesticated form of this cereal grain originated in Southeastern Anatolia, around the region of Diyarbakir Province in present-day Turkey, around 8500 BC. Many cultures in the region had developed a semi-dependence on wild grains that are the forebears of modern wheat plants, and as cultures grew more adapted to using this handy wild plant, some unnamed geniuses developed methods to permanently cultivate suitable varieties. Over a period of hundreds, and later thousands of years, farmers and proto-agronomists developed more and more fruitful and reliable specimens and bred them selectively.
There are now over 20 different species of wheat cultivated throughout the world. Like other cereal grains such as barley, millet and rice, wheat is a member of the poaceae family, and is related to lawn and prairie grasses. Due to wheat's thorough domestication over the past 10,000 years, wheat has lost its natural seed dispersal mechanism and can no longer propagate itself naturally.
Currently, China and India produce most of the world's wheat, although the United States remains a major producer. As population growth slows and more land is turned over to the production of biofuels, less wheat may be raised for food, causing future price hikes. This year, wheat on the futures market has risen to a record $9.00 USD per bushel. Major agricultural price spikes have not spared the wheat market; a drought in Australia and freezing and flooding in the northern hemisphere contribute to a general tightening of food prices and led to wheat's record price levels. Although weather patterns are always a risk factor in agricultural production.
