Wheat, Trigo, Triticum Spp

Wheat is one of the first domesticated grains and is known to be grown since 9000 BC.  Right now it is grown commercially in 124 countries. Even  countries with expensive land and labor like Malta ,Luxembourg or Switzerland find some room to grow some wheat.
Pretty much all   world's history , starting from the first Sumerian wheat exports, was going around  wheat, many wars were fought  and millions of people had died to secure tillable land and trade routes. Now  wheat is a part of many  national anthems, coat of arms, and flag colors.
Worldwide, 681 915 838  tons of wheat were produced in 2009 and only 650 881 002  tons in 2010 .  That is about 15 quadrillions of individual  wheat berries, provided by  about 500 trillions  of individual plants.
Biggest  wheat producer in the world is China with 115 180 303 tons in 2010, with a strong growth of 1%  or so since 2008. Unconfirmed rumors are that 2011's production fell by 500 000 tons and that  producing wheat in China costs $9 a bushel, so  they basically  produce it just to bankrupt  American, Canadian, Argentinian , Australian and Russian, Ukrainian  farmers. China also buys infinite amounts of agricultural land anywhere it can.

Biggest producer per capita is Australia, the crop would of 2010 would  be enough to give  more than 1028 kg , or over 40 bushels of wheat  to each Australian . That's enough to last  over 4 years and 11 months at 2000 calories a day.  Over 28.58% of all Australian arable land was used for wheat in 2010.
In the United States, biggest producer of wheat (  combined  winter wheat, durum wheat and spring wheat) is North Dakota ( 2011 ) , which bested Kansas by 5 million bushels in 2011.   Kansas used to be the wheat capital of  USA  up to 2010  with it's peak production at 500 million bushels in 1997.  In 2009, Kansas produced 369.6 million bushels ( about 5.5% of all acreage  had to be abandoned)  , in 2010, 360 million and in 2011,  only 273 million bushels of wheat.
On per capita basis, North Dakota is  producing  413.5 bushels of wheat  per year ( 2011 ) that is 24800 pounds , or  11.12  tons of wheat. A North Dakotan could have a pound of bread  per day for 101 years with just a crop of 2011, if they kept it to themselves.
Worldwide , 100.13 kilograms of wheat were available to a potential consumer. That's enough for  over 178.2 days at 2000 calories a day, and there is enough protein to supply  everyone with 257  days worth at 50 grams per day.  Basically there  are less than 10 ounces,  or 274 grams of whole grain  wheat  for every  day of the year, for every human on earth , which would make  up to 411 grams of bread .  However this number includes also a lower-quality wheat which is commonly  used as fodder.
Update for 2010 -- increased population and reduced production resulted in about 5.4 kg loss of available wheat, 94.7 kg  of wheat were ready  for a potential consumer.

14.32% of all arable land in the world was used for wheat production in 2009. This number decreased by about 2-2.5 % in 2010.

3 362 872 625 people could be fed year-round at 2000 calories a day with that crop of wheat. That's enough to feed all China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil and Philippines. There is enough protein for  over 5.2 billion people.

225 437 694 hectares were used to produce wheat in 2009, a territory bigger than Greenland and Serbia combined. Just take a look at that giant piece of land on the world atlas! That   (wheat acreage) is nothing less but 14.32% of all arable land in the world. Wheat is ruling over 1.5% of all  land on Earth.

If we could make a cube out of the 2009's wheat, it would be 961 meters, or over 3200 feet tall.

If you had to wait  for a train with 2009's wheat to pass  at 50 miles/ 80km per hour, you'd be waiting over 167 hours.
If you could line all wheat berries in  up one line, it would be  more than 17 times longer than the orbit of Neptune, the farthest  planet from Sun, and  the Light itself would need  almost 3 days  to travel from one end to another.

The crop of 2009 ( at current prices- 02/11) is about $ 260-270 billion worth.

Best crop ever was collected in 2008, it was 1.49 million tonnes more than  one of 2009.
Worst crop since 1961 was in 1961, 222 357 231 tonnes.

Best worldwide yield was in 2008 (3067.9 kg/ha), worst, since 1961--1088.8 kg/ha (1961)
Record yield belongs to Ireland , 9453.8 kg/ha  (2000)

Land usage since 1961 grew  by 10.4%. Seed usage since 1961 grew by  27%  (32m.t vs 25.2 mln t)

Sources: FAO.org, USDA.gov, CIA.gov, alibaba.com, many others. Koring  Пшеница
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Production (tonnes)

year

country

item 2008 2009 2010 Afghanistan Wheat 2623000 5064000 4532000 Albania Wheat 335000 333100 294900 Algeria Wheat 1111030 2953120 3100000 * Angola Wheat 4400 F 5000 F 5000 Im Argentina Wheat 8508160 8851180 14914500 Armenia Wheat 236434 206505 183500 Australia Wheat 21420200 21656000 22138000 Austria Wheat 1689690 1523370 1517810 Azerbaijan Wheat 1645790 2096200 1272340 Bangladesh Wheat 844000 849046 901490 Belarus Wheat 2045240 1979000 1740450 Belgium Wheat 1850410 1909770 1849580 Bhutan Wheat 5828 4481 4500 Im Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Wheat 199990 239367 310700 Im Bosnia and Herzegovina Wheat 240533 255848 145412 Botswana Wheat 104   0 F Brazil Wheat 6027130 5055530 6036790 Bulgaria Wheat 4632210 3976850 3994900 Burundi Wheat 8094 8583 9034 Cameroon Wheat 674 Im 883 Im 900 F Canada Wheat 28611100 26847600 23166800 Chad Wheat 8100 10613 Im 8200 Im Chile Wheat 1237690 1145290 1523920 China Wheat 112456292 115115364 115180303 Colombia Wheat 39191 24349 15780 Croatia Wheat 858333 936076 681017 Cyprus Wheat 2472 14690 14843 Czech Republic Wheat 4631500 4358070 4161600 Democratic People's Republic of Korea Wheat 175000 * 169000 * 160000 * Democratic Republic of the Congo Wheat 8740 8790 8841 Denmark Wheat 5018700 5940400 5059900 Ecuador Wheat 8144 11314 7605 Egypt Wheat 7977050 8523000 7177400 Eritrea Wheat 5391 26142 27300 Im Estonia Wheat 342500 342520 324400 Ethiopia Wheat 2463060 3075640 * 3000000 * Finland Wheat 787500 887000 724400 France Wheat 39006400 38332200 38207000 Georgia Wheat 80300 53900 48400 Germany Wheat 25988600 25192400 24106700 Greece Wheat 1939300 1830000 1600000 * Guatemala Wheat 8571 Im 9000 P 11700 Im Honduras Wheat 1048 Im 1127 Im 1000 Im Hungary Wheat 5630830 4419160 3763680 India Wheat 78570200 80680000 80710000 Iran (Islamic Republic of) Wheat 7956650 13484500 15028800 Iraq Wheat 1255000 1700400 2748840 Ireland Wheat 993000 690000 669000 Israel Wheat 75734 132963 112324 Italy Wheat 8855440 6341000 6900000 * Japan Wheat 881200 674200 571300 Jordan Wheat 7835 12484 22125 Kazakhstan Wheat 12538200 17052000 9638400 Kenya Wheat 336688 219301 511994 Kuwait Wheat 260 350 Im 320 Im Kyrgyzstan Wheat 746200 1056660 813300 Latvia Wheat 989600 1036400 973000 Lebanon Wheat 143700 153000 F 138100 Im Lesotho Wheat 3720 7420 20119 Libya Wheat 104000 105000 F 106000 F Lithuania Wheat 1722500 2100200 1708200 Luxembourg Wheat 97760 90903 83474 Madagascar Wheat 10000 P 11861 Im 12500 Im Malawi Wheat 2386 2590 2700 Im Mali Wheat 13116 15132 23788 Malta Wheat 14000 F 14000 F 13100 Im Mauritania Wheat 4000 3414 2413 Mexico Wheat 4019400 4116160 3676710 Mongolia Wheat 209830 388122 345458 Montenegro Wheat 2856 3044 2465 Morocco Wheat 3769450 6371430 4876140 Mozambique Wheat 2550 F 2575 F 2600 F Myanmar Wheat 170000 179000 181900 Im Namibia Wheat 14581 12448 12500 F Nepal Wheat 1572070 1343860 1556540 Netherlands Wheat 1366160 1402040 1369550 New Caledonia Wheat 13 Im 8 Im 10 Im New Zealand Wheat 343350 403464 444891 Niger Wheat 8775 8600 F 8700 F Nigeria Wheat 53000 36813 Im 34200 Im Norway Wheat 453300 278000 293000 Occupied Palestinian Territory Wheat 31826 30000 F 27100 Im Oman Wheat 1070 2000 2000 Pakistan Wheat 20958800 24033000 23310800 Paraguay Wheat 799632 1066800 1401990 Peru Wheat 206936 226265 219454 Poland Wheat 9274920 9789590 9487800 Portugal Wheat 203300 110200 111700 Im Qatar Wheat 30 32 F 30 Im Republic of Korea Wheat 10359 18782 39116 Republic of Moldova Wheat 1286330 736660 744160 Romania Wheat 7180980 5202530 5811810 Russian Federation Wheat 63765100 61739800 41507600 Rwanda Wheat 67869 72430 77193 Saudi Arabia Wheat 1985560 1152450 1300000 * Serbia Wheat 2095400 2067560 1630400 Slovakia Wheat 1819480 1537910 1227800 Slovenia Wheat 160297 136904 153481 Somalia Wheat 1000 F 950 F 990 Im South Africa Wheat 2130000 1958000 1464970 Spain Wheat 6714300 4723900 5610700 Sudan Wheat 587000 641695 403000 Swaziland Wheat 363 Im 420 F 450 F Sweden Wheat 2202200 2284000 2184400 Switzerland Wheat 548097 549431 523562 Syrian Arab Republic Wheat 2139300 3701780 3083100 Tajikistan Wheat 659096 938435 857545 Thailand Wheat 1076 Im 1081 Im 1100 Im The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Wheat 291719 271117 243137 Tunisia Wheat 919000 1653600 822100 Turkey Wheat 17782000 20600000 19660000 Turkmenistan Wheat 2317070 Im 2957940 Im 3000000 F Uganda Wheat 19000 20000 21500 F Ukraine Wheat 25885400 20886400 16851300 United Arab Emirates Wheat 30 45 F 40 Im United Kingdom Wheat 17227000 14076000 14878000 United Republic of Tanzania Wheat 92400 95000 62130 United States of America Wheat 68016100 60365700 60102600 Uruguay Wheat 1356600 1844420 1300700 Uzbekistan Wheat 6146500 6637700 6730400 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Wheat 226 230 F 300 Im Yemen Wheat 170446 222129 265432 Zambia Wheat 113242 195456 172256 Zimbabwe Wheat 31000 40000 F 41800 Im World + (Total) Wheat 683218307 A 686959162 A 650881002 A

Corn , Maize, Zea mays

Corn is a number 1 grain crop in the world by volume, it is number 1 crop by calories and protein content also.  Oldest milling tools with maize residue  that were found in Central America are 8700 years old,  corn started to spread all over Americas  around  1500 BC and by 500 AD it was grown even in Canada.  In 2009, over 817.1 million tons  of  maize were produced.
USA is the biggest producer  in the world both by volume and per capita. A "share" of an average American  would be  1072 kg , or  2383 pounds of corn. Its enough  corn to live  for over 5 years and 10 weeks or so at 2000 calories a day  or you could make about 95 gallons of ethanol with it. It takes about 25 pounds of corn to make 1 gallon of ethanol, and about 78 grams to sweeten 1 can of soda. Overall, there are over 3500 uses for  corn products.
Worldwide , 118.6  kg or 263.5 pounds  of corn were available  per potential consumer. That's enough for  about 210.5 days at 2000 calories a day. There is enough corn in the world to feed

over  3 973.5 million people or entire populations of China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan,Nigeria, Bangladesh,Russia, Japan, Mexico , Philippines, Burma and El Salvador combined. There is enough protein  in crop of corn to provide 50 grams a day to over 6 250 000 000 people.  Yes, it is incomplete and  hard to digest, still, quite a few  people can be  fed with it.
Over 159 531 000 hectares were used for maize production in 2009,  a territory bigger than Mongolia and Belgium combined.  That is over 10.1% of all arable land in the world. More land was used  only in 2008.  These numbers  do not include corn that was planted for livestock needs and was harvested  before maturity.
Best harvest ever was in 2008, 826 224 247 tonnes. Worst, since 1961-- 204.87 mln tonnes of corn in 1962

Best worldwide yield  was 5128.4 kg/ha in 2008. Worst, since 1961-- 1942.2 kg/ha in 1961.
Individual record yield belongs to Jordan, 2002  --28675 kg/ha. They must be smoking crack there in FAO.org, I will need to take a closer look at this. On the other hand there were only 480 hectares planted with corn in Jordan of 2002 so who knows may be its true.


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Usage of Maize by USA, 2008
           5.25 billion bu. - Livestock feed
           3.65 billion bu. - Ethanol production

• 1.85 billion bu. - Exports
• 943 million bu. - Production of Starch, Corn Oil, Sweeteners (HFCS,etc.)
• 327 million bu. - Human consumption - grits, corn flour, corn meal, beverage alcohol

Cost of the world crop as of today, is around $ 202-205 billion. (623.5 cents for a bushel (56lbs)as of today)

Major producers, 2008-2009

	item	2008		2009
Afghanistan	Maize	137000			M
Albania	Maize	49000		47600
Algeria	Maize	227		168
Angola	Maize	883943		1554096
Antigua and Barbuda	Maize	42	F		M
Argentina	Maize	3412155		2337175
Armenia	Maize	3963		2637
Australia	Maize	68000		64580
Austria	Maize	194087		178500
Azerbaijan	Maize	33195		31501
Bahamas	Maize	180	F	180	F
Bangladesh	Maize	223868		122000	F
Barbados	Maize	105	F	105	F
Belarus	Maize	112702		95832
Belgium	Maize	72015		66700
Belize	Maize	15732		15308
Benin	Maize	746318			M
Bhutan	Maize	28727	F		M
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Maize	433300		289011
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Maize	204266		188688
Botswana	Maize	56000	F		M
Brazil	Maize	14444582		13791219
Bulgaria	Maize	329345		274229
Burkina Faso	Maize	608368			M
Burundi	Maize	115000	F		M
Cambodia	Maize	163106		213000	*
Cameroon	Maize	620000	F	620000	F
Canada	Maize	1168800		1142000
Cape Verde	Maize	34385			M
Central African Republic	Maize	172665		177845
Chad	Maize	235082			M
Chile	Maize	134641		128211
China	Maize	29882998		30478998
Colombia	Maize	623025		591890
Comoros	Maize	2000	F		M
Congo	Maize	10250	F		M
Costa Rica	Maize	6837		11227
Côte d'Ivoire	Maize	310000	F		M
Croatia	Maize	314062		296910
Cuba	Maize	129222		203981
Czech Republic	Maize	113777		105268
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Maize	503150			M
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Maize	1483890			M
Denmark	Maize		M		M
Djibouti	Maize	6	F		M
Dominica	Maize	145	F		M
Dominican Republic	Maize	18412			M
Ecuador	Maize	358480		368769
Egypt	Maize	819945		835000	F
El Salvador	Maize	256164		261628
Eritrea	Maize	16448	F		M
Ethiopia	Maize	1767389		1768122	*
Fiji	Maize	1000	F	900	F
France	Maize	1702030		1679800
French Guiana	Maize	40	F		M
Gabon	Maize	20000	F	20000	F
Gambia	Maize	43460		47000
Georgia	Maize	141400		124000
Germany	Maize	520478		464333
Ghana	Maize	846260		954400
Greece	Maize	240000		240000
Grenada	Maize	320	F		M
Guadeloupe	Maize		M		M
Guam	Maize	15	F		M
Guatemala	Maize	795000	F		M
Guinea	Maize	484296			M
Guinea-Bissau	Maize	17000	F		M
Guyana	Maize	4600	F		M
Haiti	Maize	269000	F		M
Honduras	Maize	317602		335514
Hungary	Maize	1191804		1177321
India	Maize	8300000	*	8400000	*
Indonesia	Maize	4003313		4160659
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Maize	242740		225639
Iraq	Maize	122575		114050
Israel	Maize	5360		5000	F
Italy	Maize	991500		915500
Jamaica	Maize	1514			M
Japan	Maize	60	F	65	F
Jordan	Maize	1041		1043
Kazakhstan	Maize	75700		99800
Kenya	Maize	1700000		1884368
Kuwait	Maize	50	F		M
Kyrgyzstan	Maize	78900		78800
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Maize	193220		175965
Lebanon	Maize	900		1000	F
Lesotho	Maize	137156		137366
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Maize	1380	F		M
Lithuania	Maize	7600		5500
Luxembourg	Maize	379		409
Madagascar	Maize	250000	F		M
Malawi	Maize	1596955			M
Malaysia	Maize	6315		6340
Maldives	Maize	25	F		M
Mali	Maize	352263		463640
Mauritania	Maize	21902		16684	*
Mauritius	Maize	95			M
Mexico	Maize	7353940		7200000	*
Micronesia (Federated States of)	Maize	45			M
Montenegro	Maize	2756			M
Montserrat	Maize	15			M
Morocco	Maize	219300			M
Mozambique	Maize	1400000	F		M
Myanmar	Maize	345000	F		M
Namibia	Maize	28000	F		M
Nepal	Maize	870166		875428
Netherlands	Maize	22100		18800
New Caledonia	Maize	1100	F		M
New Zealand	Maize	18300		21558
Nicaragua	Maize	318435			M
Niger	Maize	6400			M
Nigeria	Maize	3845000			M
Pakistan	Maize	1052000		950000
Panama	Maize	46290			M
Papua New Guinea	Maize	1700	F		M
Paraguay	Maize	858101		774100
Peru	Maize	499073		514030
Philippines	Maize	2661020		2683900
Poland	Maize	317193		274100
Portugal	Maize	109600		87600
Puerto Rico	Maize	290	F		M
Qatar	Maize	70		75	F
Republic of Korea	Maize	18366			M
Republic of Moldova	Maize	427950		368000	*
Réunion	Maize	1550	F		M
Romania	Maize	2432210		2333501
Russian Federation	Maize	1731700		1122200
Rwanda	Maize	210000	F	187000	F
Saint Lucia	Maize		M		M
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Maize	210	F		M
Sao Tome and Principe	Maize	1300	F		M
Saudi Arabia	Maize	29000			M
Senegal	Maize	216517		211585
Serbia	Maize	1273910		1208640
Sierra Leone	Maize	60000	F		M
Slovakia	Maize	154238		144235
Slovenia	Maize	43698		38611
Somalia	Maize	235000	F		M
South Africa	Maize	2799000		2427500
Spain	Maize	366300		345000
Sri Lanka	Maize	51600		50860
Sudan	Maize	30672		37083
Suriname	Maize	12			M
Swaziland	Maize	47409	F		M
Switzerland	Maize	17593		16713
Syrian Arab Republic	Maize	70900		41848
Tajikistan	Maize	14516		14000	F
Thailand	Maize	1042826		1104870
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	Maize	31013		32466
Timor-Leste	Maize	63400	F		M
Togo	Maize	487175			M
Trinidad and Tobago	Maize	1200			M
Turkey	Maize	593710		591279
Turkmenistan	Maize	15300			M
Uganda	Maize	862000		887000
Ukraine	Maize	2440100		2089100
United Kingdom	Maize				M
United Republic of Tanzania	Maize	3100000			M
United States of America	Maize	31796493		32209277
Uruguay	Maize	80600		87500
Uzbekistan	Maize	32000	*	35000	F
Vanuatu	Maize	1450	F		M
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Maize	783314			M
Viet Nam	Maize	1125900		1086800
Yemen	Maize	43467		37402
Zambia	Maize	663990		911942	*

Zimbabwe                                                                 1730 000             M