Pear, Pera, Pyrus communis , Груша

There are 30 different species in genus Pyrus, with over 3000 cultivars grown today. Pear species are  natives of  many regions of the Old World,  domesticated by Ancient Chinese  3-4 000 years ago. About 2000 years ago, Romans knew over 20 varieties of pears.
Pears, according to Homer, are "gifts of the Gods"  and have been an important crop in Roman empire.
They are rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, thus reducing your chances to develop a cancer, especially colon cancer, and some other really nasty  cancers  further down of digestive tract.
In 2009,  over 22 460 529 tons of pears were produced, leaving you as a potential consumer  with 3.3 kg of pears for that year. That's about 1 medium sized pear every 20 days or so for every human on Earth.
World production of pears  grew continuously since 1991. Since 1961, it grew over 431%. Land usage grew 317%. Crop of 2009 was the biggest pear crop ever.
World crop of pears  of 2009 could supply  over 18.53 million people with 2000 calories a day. It had enough protein for 7.4 million people at 50 g per day.
Pear trees are using over  1.02% of  all permanent crop land in the world.
Biggest producer  of pears is China, with  14 416 450 tons produced in 2009 (over 65% of the world production). However some of the Chinese orchards polluted so much that  farmers  have to pollinate their trees by hand, all other pollinators, bees and local bugs, died off awhile ago. Beware of Chinese pears, I'd say.
Biggest producer per capita is Argentina with about 17.5 kg of pears per person produced as of 2009.
Chile is close to Argentina  by it's importance in pear business, also it is a major exporter.
Average world's yield is 14.2 tons of pears per hectare. Over the last 50 years, average yields grew about 40-50%.

Record yield, according to fao.org, belongs to Switzerland,  378.2 tonnes per hectare (1967). Now that's a lot of pears if you ask me.
My usual sources are fao.org, usda,gov, cia.gov, alibaba.com and many others. Thank you for your visit!

Pears in bloom

List of all articles at ironrye :
http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html

Production of pears by country:    

 2007          2008          2009
Afghanistan   
Pears
    2145        3500        2200    F
Albania   
Pears
    4700        5570        7180   
Algeria   
Pears
    139353        176957        159997   
Argentina   
Pears
    720000    P     740000    F     700000    P
Armenia   
Pears
    43600    *     45100    *     46000    *
Australia   
Pears
    134764        130492        120376   
Austria   
Pears
    175526        84735        168663   
Azerbaijan   
Pears
    32531        37204        36228   
Belarus   
Pears
    44064        52502        60931   
Belgium   
Pears
    280300        170500        280600   
Bhutan   
Pears
    2203        2271    Im    1109   
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)   
Pears
    1775        1791        1806   
Bosnia and Herzegovina   
Pears
    20696        21682        24784   
Brazil   
Pears
    17074        17391        14856   
Bulgaria   
Pears
    965        924        1442   
Canada   
Pears
    13381        9594        8400   
Chile   
Pears
    195000        185000    F     191000    F
China   
Pears
    13045429        13676381        14416450   
Colombia   
Pears
    14956        13579        12450   
Croatia   
Pears
    9872        8849        9950   
Cyprus   
Pears
    1138        1230        1730   
Czech Republic   
Pears
    2917        2498        4400   
Democratic People's Republic of Korea   
Pears
    125000    F     131086    Im    137901    Im
Denmark   
Pears
    9000    F     8372    Im    7712    Im
Djibouti   
Pears
    3    F     3    F     3    F
Ecuador   
Pears
    11000    F     11985    Im    13597    Im
Egypt   
Pears
    50414        48908        52000    F
France   
Pears
    202708        159865        185857   
Georgia   
Pears
    19600        16400        11100   
Germany   
Pears
    49918        38076        52319   
Greece   
Pears
    71132        80000    F     82800    Im
Hungary   
Pears
    11799        22090        32256   
India   
Pears
    282042    Im    306078    Im    317244    Im
Iran (Islamic Republic of)   
Pears
    132000    F     115812        107077    Im
Iraq   
Pears
    11951        12508        12489   
Ireland   
Pears
        M         M         M
Israel   
Pears
    32637        30046        29077   
Italy   
Pears
    835700        770100        847500   
Japan   
Pears
    322400        361700        351500   
Jordan   
Pears
    3546        2227        2662   
Kazakhstan   
Pears
    11070        7990        11000    *
Kenya   
Pears
    6370        5084        2437   
Kyrgyzstan   
Pears
    3100    *     3200    *     3500    *
Latvia   
Pears
    1096        244        484   
Lebanon   
Pears
    33500        34000    F     30657    Im
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya   
Pears
    1369    Im    1547    Im    1395    Im
Lithuania   
Pears
    1983        1769        2781   
Luxembourg   
Pears
    1185        940        940   
Madagascar   
Pears
    1750    F     1397    Im    1396    Im
Malta   
Pears
    134        89        33   
Mexico   
Pears
    24739        27900    *     28000    F
Montenegro   
Pears
    2104        2038        2813   
Morocco   
Pears
    43894        38370        34598    Im
Nepal   
Pears
    33852        33852        33871   
Netherlands   
Pears
    260000        172000        295000   
New Zealand   
Pears
    35000    F     32500    F     31800    F
Norway   
Pears
    533        749        850   
Occupied Palestinian Territory   
Pears
    187        183        165    Im
Pakistan   
Pears
    24152        24657        20225   
Paraguay   
Pears
    190    Im    185    Im    230    F
Peru   
Pears
    7072        5745        5431   
Poland   
Pears
    30746        72813        83032   
Portugal   
Pears
    141210        195100        249109   
Republic of Korea   
Pears
    467426        470745        470000    F
Republic of Moldova   
Pears
    4149        4269        5600    *
Romania   
Pears
    62852        52576        66111   
Russian Federation   
Pears
    96000    *     60000    *     65000    *
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines   
Pears
    360    F     316    Im    340    F
Serbia   
Pears
    60523        61886        67771   
Slovakia   
Pears
    311        387        200   
Slovenia   
Pears
    11823        9299        9862   
South Africa   
Pears
    336408        337096        340156   
Spain   
Pears
    551848        538677        434200   
Sweden   
Pears
    1600    F     1654    Im    1649    Im
Switzerland   
Pears
    83636        83235    *     73884   
Syrian Arab Republic   
Pears
    24671        24600        25521   
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia   
Pears
    8235        8260        8313   
Tunisia   
Pears
    55000        75000        60000   
Turkey   
Pears
    356281        355476        384244   
Ukraine   
Pears
    139500        126300        145900   
United Kingdom   
Pears
    20643        19800        20000    F
United Republic of Tanzania   
Pears
    203    Im    205    Im    206    Im
United States of America   
Pears
    799180        789110        849320   
Uruguay   
Pears
    18697        15755        13272   
Uzbekistan   
Pears
    55000    *     61000    *     65000    *
Yemen   
Pears
    421    Im    438    Im    441    I
Zimbabwe   
Pears
    182    Im    145    Im    146    I
World + (Total)   
Pears
    20893424    A     21261587    A     22460529   

Canary seed , Alpiste, Phalaris canariensis

Canary seed grass is a native of a Mediterranean region. It is used mostly as a bird food, but  it can be used for  human consumption also. It might cause an esophageal cancer though, if you are not careful, unless you use spike less variety. Microscopic spikes of canary seeds annoy /kill esophageal cells, so their neighbors have to breed faster, and as a result the chance for cancerous mutation is bigger. Right now  canary seed is used as food by North Africa, Italy, parts of Spain and Mexico.
Only 12 countries are growing canary seed / alpiste commercially according to FAO.org, but  the number is more likely to be 10 as Morocco and Netherlands apparently are out of the picture of the canary seed business. Biggest producer both by volume and  per capita is Canada,  141 900 t  of canaryseed produced in 2009. That's about 4.13 kg of canary seed per Canadian. Worldwide,  196 150 tonnes were produced (2009), or 28.4 grams  per potential consumer.
World crop could  provide nutrition for  about 1 mln people.
 213 619 hectares were used for canary seed production in 2009 , a territory close to the size of Comoros islands.

List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html


Best crop ever was in 2004 (378 042 tonnes), worst since 1961-- 47 408 tonnes (1966)
Best global yields were 1212.9 kg/ha in 1990, worst since 1961-- 664.6 kg/ha in 1977.

Record yield belongs to Czech republic , 3500 kg/ha, on some small experimental field. Aside of that, top yield was 1742.8 kg/ha in Turkey (2006)
Canaryseed costs around $1000 per ton,  world crop is about $ 190-210 million worth.

Production by country,              2007            2008            2009

Argentina	Canary seed	9050		10023		9763
Australia	Canary seed	4000	F	5000	F		M
Canada	Canary seed	162000		195600		141900
Czech Republic	Canary seed	700		700			M
Hungary	Canary seed	5972		12343		5389
Mexico	Canary seed	183		227			M
Morocco	Canary seed	0	F	0	F		M
Netherlands	Canary seed		M		M		M
Spain	Canary seed	70	F	70	F		M
Thailand	Canary seed	30000	F	30000	Fc	30000	Fc
Turkey	Canary seed	62		17		61
Uruguay	Canary seed	2800	F	3040	F		M
World + (Total)	Canary seed	214837	A	257020	A	196150	A

Ginger, Jengibre, Zingiber officinale

root of ginger, Zingiber officinale

Ginger is a South Asia's native, where it was  grown for at least 3000 years. First known name of Ginger is singabera , which  means "root with horns" in Sanskrit. Traders were bringing this root to European markets for at least 2000 years.
Now, Ginger is grown  in 32 countries commercially. The biggest producer (and also consumer ) of ginger is India with 380 100 t harvested in 2009.  The biggest producer per capita is Nepal, in 2008 they produced 176 602 t, which is about 6.2 kg of Ginger per each Nepalese. Nepal uses about 0.5% of  all arable land  for ginger production.
Worldwide, there were  about  237.7 grams of ginger available to every human in 2009, which is quite a bit considering how little of it  you need to spice things up. In a properly dried  form, it would be about 40 grams.
1 618 627 tons of ginger were produced in 2009.

427 423 hectares were used  for ginger production in 2009, more than ever in human history. It would be  a  territory bigger than Cape Verde and  Aruba combined.


List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html


Jamaica was producing some  of the finest Ginger in the world not that long ago, but rhizome root disease put an end to it. In November of 2010  3-year , $12 million + project was launched to do something about it, out of which $5.8 million were provided by Jamaican government.
No meaningful  results were achieved so far.

Yields in ginger farming are really interesting. I do not know any other plant yields of which differ so much.
In Pakistan, for example , you get less than 500 kg of ginger per hectare. In Nigeria--710kg, and in USA-- 34000 kg per hectare. 3786.9 kg/ha was an average yield in 2009.
Best yield ever was 56174.3 kg/ha in USA (2000).   Best yield of ginger worldwide  was in 2008, 3810.3 kg/ha. Worst (since 1961) 1921.8 kg/ha in 1961.
Best crop  ever worldwide was in 2009 (see above), worst, since 1961-- 60 360 tonnes in 1961.

flower of ginger

Prices, retail in USA is about $4-5 per pound. By bulk, you can pay anywhere from $200 to $1800 a ton , depending on many factors. World crop is about  $1 billion worth, and  international exports are about $200-220 mln

Production by country,   2006             2007             2008               2009
<><><><><><>

<><><><><><>

Bangladesh	Ginger	57000		63325		77046			M
Bhutan	Ginger	7571		9870		9870	F		M
Cameroon	Ginger	11336		11000		11000	F	11000	F
China	Ginger	319824		327373		328810	F	331810	F
Costa Rica	Ginger	4229		1044		955		1105
Côte d'Ivoire	Ginger	5040		8200		8200	F		M
Dominica	Ginger	120		120		120	F		M
Dominican Republic	Ginger	1500		1700	F	551			M
Ethiopia	Ginger	8000		9000		9000	F		M
Fiji	Ginger	3209		3111		2448		2787
Ghana	Ginger	70		70	F	70	F		M
Grenada	Ginger		M		M		M		M
Guyana	Ginger	520	F	520		520	F		M
India	Ginger	391200		393400		382600		380100
Indonesia	Ginger	177138		178502		192341	F		M
Jamaica	Ginger	259		241		298			M
Japan	Ginger	38100		42700		49800		52000	F
Kenya	Ginger	150		150	F	150	F		M
Madagascar	Ginger	30		30	F	30	F		M
Malaysia	Ginger	9966		10150		10340		11200
Mauritius	Ginger	1016		1299		709		616
Mexico	Ginger		M		M		M		M
Nepal	Ginger	154197		158905		176602			M
Nigeria	Ginger	134000		138000	F	140000	F		M
Pakistan	Ginger	31		57		95			M
Philippines	Ginger	27261		27946		27538		27415
Puerto Rico	Ginger	90		90	F	90	F		M
Republic of Korea	Ginger	4615		5750		3560			M
Réunion	Ginger	96		96	*	96	F		M
Saint Lucia	Ginger	7		9		9			M
Sri Lanka	Ginger	6760		8270		10050		10780
Thailand	Ginger	125000		153284		161505		170125
Trinidad and Tobago	Ginger	95	F	95	F	95	F		M
Uganda	Ginger	120		120	F	120	F		M
United Republic of Tanzania	Ginger	10		10	F	10	F		M
United States of America	Ginger	1950		1270		816			M
World + (Total)	Ginger	1490510	A	1555707	A	1605444	A	1618627	A

My usual sources  are : FAO.org, usda.gov, cia.gov, alibaba.com, many others

Thank you for your visit.

Pineapple, Ananas comosus

Native of Brazil/Paraguay  Pineapple was already present  all over Caribbean islands by the time Columbus reached them in 1492.  Currently 84 countries are growing pineapples commercially. In 2009, 18 448 674 tons were produced,  leaving an average Earthling with 2.71 kg of pineapple to consume.

There is enough calories in the crop of 2009 to provide 12.13 million people with 2000 calories a day or entire population of Zimbabwe.
852 109  hectares  (more than ever before) were used for pineapple production in 2009, a territory similar in size to Puerto-Rico. That's about 0.054% of all arable land.  Land usage grew by 230% since 1961.

Biggest producer in the world is Philippines with  2 198 497 t produced in 2009.

Biggest producer per capita is Costa Rica with 414 kg produced in 2009.17.35% of Costa-Rica's arable land was used for pineapple production in 2009. Pineapple land usage  in Costa-Rica grew 195 times since 1966. It is very likely that this fast expansion contributed greatly to the extinction of Golden Toad, endemic specie of Costa Rica. To ensure high yields of pineapples, large amounts of pesticides are required ( up to 20 kg  of ACTIVE ingredients per hectare per cycle).  At current yields in Costa Rica, it comes out to 420 milligrams per each kg of pineapples produced.

Best world crop  of pineapples since 1961 was 20 963 463 t in 2007, worst--3 831 437 in 1961.
Best worldwide yields since 1961 were 24706.6 kg/ha in 2007 , worst --10374.1/kg/ha in 1961.

Record yield belongs to Indonesia at 118049.1 kg/ha (2007). What are the record yields from an individual pineapple field I am scared to even imagine.


List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html

Pineapples cost anywhere from $200 to $1000  and more per ton. World crop is about $7-7.5 billion worth
Production, by country ,                                     2007               2008,                              2009

American Samoa	Pineapples	380	F	380	F		M
Angola	Pineapples	40000	F	40000	F		M
Antigua and Barbuda	Pineapples	210	F	210	F		M
Argentina	Pineapples	3300	F	3300	F	3300	F
Australia	Pineapples	164732		164732	F	157679
Bangladesh	Pineapples	238360		210283			M
Belize	Pineapples	2276		953		1177
Benin	Pineapples	135912		136123			M
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Pineapples	14525		14525	F		M
Brazil	Pineapples	2676417		2491974		1477675
Brunei Darussalam	Pineapples	990	F	990	F		M
Cambodia	Pineapples	16000	F	16000	F		M
Cameroon	Pineapples	52000	F	52000	F	52000	F
Central African Republic	Pineapples	14200	F	14200	F	14200	F
China	Pineapples	1381901		1402060	F	1452060	F
Colombia	Pineapples	434574		436044		427766
Congo	Pineapples	2900	F	3000	F		M
Cook Islands	Pineapples	25	F	25	F		M
Costa Rica	Pineapples	1968000		1678125		1870121
Côte d'Ivoire	Pineapples	159668		159668	F		M
Cuba	Pineapples	51597		55387		70920
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Pineapples	197320		198390			M
Dominican Republic	Pineapples	91593		100528			M
Ecuador	Pineapples	110000	F	110000	F		M
El Salvador	Pineapples	7913		8625		8625
Ethiopia	Pineapples	160	F	45	*		M
Fiji	Pineapples	2302		3506		3606
French Guiana	Pineapples	1800	F	1800	F		M
French Polynesia	Pineapples	3000	F	3000	F		M
Gabon	Pineapples	750	F	750	F	750	F
Ghana	Pineapples	68000	F	68000	F		M
Guadeloupe	Pineapples	5300	F	5300	F		M
Guam	Pineapples		M		M		M
Guatemala	Pineapples	204529		204571			M
Guinea	Pineapples	108000	F	109000	F		M
Guinea-Bissau	Pineapples	350	F	350	F		M
Guyana	Pineapples	1301		1301	F		M
Haiti	Pineapples	4500		4500	F		M
Honduras	Pineapples	132131		133452		135186
India	Pineapples	1308000		1305800			M
Indonesia	Pineapples	2237858		1272761		1558049
Israel	Pineapples	552		698		768
Jamaica	Pineapples	18102		20351			M
Japan	Pineapples	10400		10400	F		M
Kenya	Pineapples	429065		429065	F		M
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Pineapples	31295		33260		45780
Liberia	Pineapples	7850	F	7850	F		M
Madagascar	Pineapples	53500	F	53500	F		M
Malaysia	Pineapples	316210		384673		400070
Martinique	Pineapples	18000	F	18000	F		M
Mauritius	Pineapples	6398		6393		8880
Mexico	Pineapples	671131		685805			M
Morocco	Pineapples		M		M		M
Mozambique	Pineapples	13000	F	13000	F		M
Nepal	Pineapples	9980		9980		9995
Nicaragua	Pineapples	51000	F	51000	F		M
Nigeria	Pineapples	900000	F	900000	F		M
Panama	Pineapples	71002		75907			M
Papua New Guinea	Pineapples	20000	F	20000	F		M
Paraguay	Pineapples	73000	F	54257		56300
Peru	Pineapples	212059		243492		274393
Philippines	Pineapples	2016462		2209336		2198497
Portugal	Pineapples	3000	F	3000	F		M
Puerto Rico	Pineapples	17000	F	17000	F		M
Republic of Korea	Pineapples	1050	F	1050	F		M
Réunion	Pineapples	16890		18000	*		M
Rwanda	Pineapples	17000	F	18208		18000	F
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Pineapples	60		69			M
Saint Lucia	Pineapples	49		63			M
Samoa	Pineapples	4600	F	4600	F		M
Seychelles	Pineapples	160	F	160	F		M
South Africa	Pineapples	146214		124628		123125
Sri Lanka	Pineapples	53300		52180		49550
Sudan	Pineapples	5200	F	5200	F		M
Suriname	Pineapples	375		300			M
Swaziland	Pineapples	20000	F	20000	F		M
Thailand	Pineapples	2815275		2278566		1894862
Timor-Leste	Pineapples	200	F	200	F		M
Togo	Pineapples	1500	F	1500	F		M
Trinidad and Tobago	Pineapples	4500	F	4500	F		M
Uganda	Pineapples	1600	F	1600	F		M
United Republic of Tanzania	Pineapples	78000	F	78000	F		M
United States of America	Pineapples	172500	F	172500	F		M
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Pineapples	363075		358796			M
Viet Nam	Pineapples	470000	F	470000	F		M
Wallis and Futuna Islands	Pineapples	5	F	5	F		M
Zimbabwe	Pineapples	130	F	130	F		M
World + (Total)	Pineapples	20963463	A	19268880	A	18448674	A

Sources: FAO.org, CIA.gov, USDA.gov, alibaba.com , many others