Wheat

History

Introduction Origin And Diffusion Classification Area and Production Economic Importance

WHEAT Triticum aestivum (2n = 42) Poeaceae

Introduction

Wheat is grown on more land area worldwide than any other crop and is a close third to rice and corn in total world production.
With a production reaching ten times in past five years, India is today the second largest wheat producer in the whole world.
Various studies and researches show that wheat and wheat flour play an increasingly important role in the management of Indias food economy.
Wheat production is about 70 million tonnes per year in India and counts for approximately 12 per cent of world production.
Being the second largest in population, it is also the second largest in wheat consumption after China, with a huge and growing wheat demand.
Major wheat growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar. All of north is replenished with wheat cultivation.
Wheat has a narrow geographic land base of production as compared to rice or pulses. Wheat is a temperate crop requiring low temperatures and most of the country is tropical.
Indias wheat production increase is driven principally by yield growth and by shift in production from other crops to wheat and an increase in cropping intensity.
Among the major factors that affect yield, fertilizer use appears to have less effect in recent years while expansion in irrigated and high yielding variety (HYV) area seem to play a more important role in raising yield.
Depending on the population and income growth, poverty alleviation and the rate of urbanization, a demand-supply gap may open at a rate of about 1 to 2 per cent per year, which is equivalent to 0.7 to 1.4, million tonnes of wheat, growing larger over the years.
Promoting rapid economic development and income growth in India which embraces the poor and particularly the rural poor, may lead to considerable growth in demand for wheat and thus an expansion in trade opportunities.

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Origin And Diffusion

Wheat is the leading food crop in world farming. It is main food crop of temperate zone.
It is a plastic crop. It is also extended to warm regions of temperate and sub tropics to tropical low lands.
It is one of the most ancient crops of the world.
Its cultivation began in the Neolithic period. Bread wheat is known to have been grown in the Nile valley by 5000 B.C., and its apparently later cultivation in other regions (e.g., the Indus and Euphrates valleys by 4000 B.C., China by 2500 B.C., and England by 2000 B.C.) indicate that it spread from Mediterranean centers of domestication.
The civilizations of W Asia and of the European peoples have been largely based on wheat, while rice has been more important in E Asia.
Since agriculture began, wheat has been the chief source of bread for Europe and the Middle East.
It was introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards c.1520 and into Virginia by English colonists early in the 17th cent.

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Classification of wheat

1. Emmer wheat: Triticum dicoccum

This wheat is grown in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It is grown in Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia. It was developed from T. diccoides koru. a wild form.

2. Macaroni wheat: Triticum durum

It is drought tolerant and cultivated in Punjab, M.P., Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, W.B and H.P. It is used for suji preparation. It is grown in Italy, USA, Canada, and Russia. They are descended from emmer wheat.

3. Common bread wheat: Triticum vulgare

It is a typical wheat of alluvial soils of Indo Gangetic plains i.e. Punjab, U.P., Bihar and parts of Rajasthan. Bulk of Indian crop consists of this type.

4. Indian dwarf wheat: Triticum spherococcum

This is found in limited areas of M.P., U.P. of India and in Pakistan. They are characterized by very short and compact heads having shorter grains. This belongs to the club wheat of western countries.

5. Bread Wheat: Triticum aestivum

This is the type presently grown in India in almost all the wheat-growing zones. It is introduced in India by Dr. N.E. Borlaug of Mexico and called as Mexican dwarf wheat. It is the bread wheat.

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Area and Production

Wheat Area, Production and Productivity in the World during 2013

Country	Area (ha)	Production (Mt)	Yield (Kg/ha)
World	215,765,044	627,130,584	2906
Argentina	5,735,000	14,560,000	2538
Australia	11,991,000	20,376,000	1699
Brazil	2,781,219	5,962,604	2143
Canada	9,862,400	25,860,400	2622
China	21,730,100	91,330,265	4202
France	5,235,267	39,704,764	7584
Germany	3,112,000	25,427,000	8170
India	26,620,000	72,060,000	2707
Iran, Islamic Rep of	6,750,000	14,000,000	2074
Italy	2,352,675	8,628,758	3667
Kazakhstan	11,784,600	9,942,300	843
Pakistan	8,176,000	19,767,000	2417
Russian Federation	22,919,900	45,412,712	1981
Ukraine	5,538,700	17,517,700	3162
United States of America	20,234,100	58,737,800	2902

Source: FAO stat Citation

Global production of wheat is now approximately 627 million tons, with an area of 215 million Ha. Wheat is Asia's second most important staple and has been growing much faster than rice. It now makes up 19.2 percent of total calorie supply. Asia is the leader in all three-growth parameters-area, output, and yield.
In Asia India, China and Pakistan are the major Wheat producers.
India is the world leader in Wheat Acreage where as China stands first in terms of production.
These countries are followed by Russia and United states in terms of area and production.
Wheat now provides one-fifth of total developing country food supply, up from 15 percent in the early 1970s.

Wheat Area, Production and Productivity in India from 2000-01 to 2012-2013

Year	Area (000ha)	Productivity (000tonns)	Yield (quintals/ha)
2000-01	25731	69681	27.1
2001-02	26350	72766	27.6
2002-03	24860	65096	26.2
2003-04	26600	72160	27.1
2004-05	26380	68640	26.0
2005-06	26480	69350	26.0
2006-07	27990	75810	27.1
2007-08	28040	78570	28.0
2008-09	27750	80680	29.1
2009-10	28460	80800	28.4
2010-11	29070	86870	29.9
2011-12	29860	94880	31.8
2012-13	29650	92460	31.1

Source:

State wise Area, Production and Productivity of Wheat in India during 2012-13

State	Area (000ha)	Productivity (000tonns)	Yield (Kg/ha)
Andhra Pradesh	10.0	8.0	1250
Assam	44.2	33.9	1304
Bihar	5357.2	2207.7	2427
Chhattisgarh	141.3	101.2	1396
Gujarat	2944.0	1024.0	2875
Haryana	11117.0	2497.0	4452
Himachal Pradesh	608.6	364.2	1671
Jammu & Kashmir	462.4	290.0	1595
Jharkhand	319.5	164.3	1944
Karnataka	179.0	225.0	796
Madhya Pradesh	13133.4	5300.0	2478
Maharashtra	1181.0	773.0	1528
Orissa	2.0	1.0	1894
Punjab	16591.0	3512.0	4724
Rajasthan	9275.5	3063.2	3028
Uttar Pradesh	30301.9	9734.0	3113
Uttarakhand	858.2	358.1	2396
West Bengal	895.9	321.6	2786
Others	84.4	25.1	3361
All-India	93506.5	30003.3	3117

Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

Wheat is one of the most important staple food grains of human race. India produces about 70 million tones of wheat per year or about 12 per cent of world production.
Being the second largest populous country, it is also the second largest in wheat consumption after China, with a steep growing wheat demand.
The major Wheat producing states in India is placed in the Northern part of the country with UP, Punjab and Haryana contributing to nearly 80% of the total wheat production.
The area under production of wheat has increased from a mere 12.93 million hectares in 1960-61 to 27.49 million hectares in 1999-2000, an increase of more than 100% over the past 5 decades.
The production of wheat at the same time, increased from 11 million tones in 1960-61 to 76.37 million tones in 1999-2000.
The yield (kg/hectare) on the other hand, increased from 851 in 1960-61 to 2778 in 1999-2000, an increase of around 3.56 times. This indicates that although wheat production over the past 5 decades increased by 6.87 times but the yield of wheat has actually increased by only half of this figure.
Wheat production in India has increased by over ten times in the past five decades and India has become the second largest wheat producer in the world.

Today, wheat plays an increasingly important role in the management of India´s food economy.

Area, Production and Productivity of Wheat in Punjab State from 2001-02 to 2011– 12

Year	Area (000ha)	Productivity (000tonns)	Yield (kg/ha)
2001-02	3422	15509	4,532
2002-03	3375	14175	4,200
2003-04	3444	14489	4,207
2004-05	3250	14788	4,221
2005-06	3468	14493	4,179
2006-07	3467	14596	4,210
2007-08	3490	15720	4,507
2008-09	3530	15730	4,462
2009-10	3522	15169	4,307
2010-11	3510	16472	4,693
2011-12	3528	17280	4,898

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India

District wise Area, Production and Yield of Wheat Crop in Punjab for the year 2010-11

District	Area (ha)	Productivity (tonns)	Yield (tonnes/ha)
Amritsar	189000	810000	4.29
Bhatinda	252000	1166000	4.61
Faridkot	117000	563000	4.81
Fatehgarh Sahib	85000	417000	4.91
Firozpur	397000	1850000	4.66
Gurdaspur	226000	919000	4.07
Hoshiarpur	154000	661000	4.29
Jalandhar	169000	793000	4.69
Kapurthala	108000	480000	4.44
Ludhiana	277000	1276000	4.96
Mansha	170000	830000	4.88
Moga	177000	887000	5.01
Mukatsar	192000	957000	4.98
N.Shahar	74000	348000	4.70
Patiala	236000	1141000	4.83
Ropar	65000	253000	3.89
Sangrur	287000	1472000	5.13
State	3510000	16772000	4.69

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India

The present agriculture cropping pattern in the State is dominated by the wheat-paddy rotation.
Wheat and paddy cover major portion of the gross cropped area. During 2003-2004, area under these crops increased to 77 percent over the area under these two crops, which was only 47 percent in 1970-71.
Area under wheat has increased from 33.75 lakh hectares in 2002-03 to 34.44 lakh hectares in 2003-2004 showing an increase of 2.0 percent. It is expected to decrease to 32.50 lakh hectares in the coming year.
At the beginning of the decade (1990-91) production of food grains was 192.18 lakh tons which increased to 247.24 lakh tons in 2003-2004.
Wheat and rice played a major role in pushing up agricultural production.
The production of wheat which was 121.59 lakh metric tons in 1990-91 rose to 144.89 lakh metric tons during 2003-2004 registering an increase of 19 percent.
In 2010-11 the area has further increased to 35.1 lakh hectares and 167.72 lakh metric tonnes.

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Economic Importance

Wheat is the staple food for most of the temperate and sub tropical regions of the world.

The chief use of wheat is the flour for making bread biscuits, cookies, chapatti, etc.

Industrially, it is used in preparation of starch, gluten, malt, and distilled spirit.

Wheat bran is rich in protein and used as valuable livestock feed.

From straw corrugated board is prepared.

Quality of wheat:

The protein to carbohydrate ratio of wheat grain is approximately 1:6.

The proteins content in wheat include albumins, globulins, glutenins and gliadines. Albumin dissolves in water and coagulates in heated aqueous solution.

The other protein forms are insoluble in water and are called gluten. It is the highest in wheat. 16-50 %. Because of gluten wheat flour is used for baking.

In wheat milling and baking qualities are the two important aspects, which are considered.
Milling quality: It depends on the hard and soft grain. The hard grains are of better quality because of the embryo being easily separated during milling. The flour is mainly obtained from endosperm.

Baking quality: In leavened bread where yeast is added to flour, carbon dioxide is produced by the fermentation of carbohydrates. This results in number of bubbles, which increase the volume of dough. The ability of the dough to retain the carbon dioxide during baking helps the rise in the loaf and this is called the strength of flours, which depend upon the gluten in the protein.

Composition of grains:

Bran coat	9 - 10%
Embryo	2.5%
Starchy endosperm	85 - 86%
Aleuronic layer	3 - 4%

Chemical composition:	grain	Flour
Water	13.0 %	12.4 %
Protein	11.5 %	10 .0%
Fat	2.0 %	1.0 %
Carbohydrate	7.0 %	7.6 %
Fiber	2.0 %	0.3 %
others	1.5 %	0.3%

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Punjab

Wheat

About Wheat

History

Morphology and Growth

Wheat Management

Services Overview

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Execution of rural IT enabled projects on BOT/BOOT/Turnkey basis.

Development, Customization and Deployment of Ikisan's IPR protected software applications.

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Some of the key customers/partners that benefit significantly from our work include are Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, State Agricultural Marketing Boards, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Tamil Nadu, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Motorola Mobility (GOOGLE) etc.

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