Wheat. The ancient and future crop
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| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Milling & Grain |
| Year of publication | 2017 April |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Digital |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | By Matt Muller, Milling and Grain Wheat plays a crucial part in the everyday life of billions of people around the globe. The cereal is farmed extensively, with yearly production surpassing the high yields of rice. Annual figures for wheat are around 750 million tonnes, cultivated on more than 540 million acres, and that trend is set to increase exponentially as the human population is forecast to rise in the very near future. Historically, wheat has been part of human culture since the earliest era. References to the grain have been found in ancient Chinese writings and Biblical scripture. Socrates is quoted as saying, "No man qualifies as a statesman who is entirely ignorant on the problems of wheat." He was of course speaking about the political direction of the period, but it shows what a key cultural influence this grain had to civilization. Wheat is part of the Triticum genus of grasses, and has a very complex genome. To give some indication of this, wheat diversifies into diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid groups, all of which can separate into three more distinct genomes within the cell nucleus. By comparison, each of these genomes is almost twice as complex as the human genome and consists of around 5,500 million letters. As a commodity, wheat is widely cultivated as a cash crop due to the case with which it can be grown and the high value it holds. Sold in 'bushels', which is the equivalent of 8 gallons (within the UK) or 64 pints (in the US), the last 10 years have seen wheat consistently command a price of around US$6. However, the market is volatile, wheat reached a high of $ IO in 2008 and a low the following year of under $3. Due to this, farmers are routinely provided with Government subsidies to offset losses and encourage or compensate production. The amount of assistance given will be especially relevant to those in the UK following the upcoming Brexit plans. Farmers receive on average £2.1 billion in direct subsidies and £600 million in rural development payments through the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. The UK Government has stated it will maintain the funding levels of around £1 .8 billion a year, however it is currently unknown how World Trade Organization rules on 'market-distortion' ma) scupper those plans. Economics and policy are not the only problems faced by whe farmers. Disease and pest infestation account for yield losses of 30 percent each year, and these are conservative estimates…Read more. |
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