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The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; [1] California's Salinas Valley is sometimes referred to as America's salad bowl. [2] [3] Such regions may be the subject of fierce political disputes, which may even escalate into full military conflicts. [4]
Breadbaskets have become important within the global food system by concentrating global food-production in a small number of countries and, in countries such as India, in small geographic regions. [5] As climate change increases weather variability around the world, the likelihood of multiple breadbaskets failing at a time increases dramatically. [5] The 2022 food crises has been in part facilitated by a series of failures in key breadbasket regions, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has created significant potential disruption of the respective breadbasket regions that are important for global wheat and oil seed production. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Sicily and the province of Africa were considered the breadbaskets of the Roman Republic. Later, in the imperial era, Hispania (and specifically, Baetica) was considered the "breadbasket of Rome." Strabo mentions that "Turdetania is wonderfully fertile, it has all kinds of fruits and very abundant", and that together with province of Egypt, they are the most productive territories in the known world. [11] Crimea was the source of a large amount of grain supplied to the Greek city-states, especially Athens.
In South Africa, the Free State province is often considered the country's breadbasket due to its wheat, sunflower, and maize fields. [12] The Overberg region in the Western Cape is also known as the breadbasket of South Africa due to its large wheat fields, as well as fruit growing. [13]
Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, was known as the breadbasket of Africa until 2000, exporting wheat, tobacco, and maize to the wider world, especially to other African nations. However today, Zimbabwe, is a net importer of foodstuffs from the Western World. [14]
Since subsistence agriculture was the dominant economic system in most of Morocco's history, it's difficult to speak of a breadbasket region. All regions produced their own wheat and barley to feed themselves and their livestock. With the European commercial penetration in the second half of the 19th century, Morocco started to export wheat to Europe despite the objection of the ulama (religious establishment). The Chaouia and Doukkala plains became the most important suppliers of wheat for export. This is logical given their proximity to the coast. The ports of Casablanca and Feddala, today's Mohammedia, serviced the Chaouia Plain while the port of Mazagan serviced Doukkala.
After Morocco's independence, agriculture in Doukkala became geared toward irrigation so less area has been devoted to wheat, whereas Chaouia maintained its status as a major wheat-producing region thanks to its dark soil called tirs and relatively abundant rainfall (avg. 400 mm/year).
State | Breadbasket / Ricebowl |
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Cambodia | Battambang Province was coined as the rice bowl of Cambodia due to the region's fertile fields. [15] |
China | Sichuan has historically been known as the "province of abundance" (魚米之鄕) due to its historical agricultural prowess. The regions on the banks of the Yellow River and Yangtze River such as Henan, southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang have also been known for their rich fertility. Northeast China (officially the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning), particularly the colder northern region, was once known as the "Great Northern Wilderness" (北大荒) due to its scarcity of population before mass migration of Han Chinese into the region during the late 19th century. However, during the Japanese occupation and the puppet state Manchukuo, farming proliferated to feed the Japanese military provisions. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, further migration and population growth ensued during the latter half of the 20th century, and industrial farming is practiced extensively over the region's fertile black soil, turning the Northeast into the "Great Northern Granary" (北大仓) that produce many times the crop yields needed for local consumption. |
India | Uttar Pradesh and Punjab along with Haryana is considered the breadbasket of India. [16] West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh along with Telangana are said to be the "rice bowl" of India. [17] [18] |
Indonesia | The plains of Java are considered the rice bowls of Indonesia. |
Korea, South | The Honam region, which is most commonly defined by Jeolla Province, has been considered throughout the peninsula's pre-divided history and is considered the breadbasket of the country due to its agricultural significance and geographical fertility. [19] Notably, the region is home to the renowned Jeonju Bibimbap. [20] [21] [22] |
Korea, North | The plains defined by Hwanghae Province are considered the breadbasket of the nation due to its geographical significance. [23] |
Malaysia | Kedah is considered the rice bowl of Malaysia, accounting for about half of Malaysia's total production of rice. In 2008, the government of Kedah banned the conversion of paddy fields to housing and industrial lots to protect the rice industry. |
Myanmar | The Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar used to be one of the most important sources of rice in the region until its production declined due to various reasons, including the country's unstable political situation. |
Pakistan | The Punjab province is considered the breadbasket of Pakistan. [24] |
Philippines | The province of Nueva Ecija, found on Luzon island, is considered the rice granary of the Philippines because of the vast tracts of land used for rice production. The island of Mindanao is known as the country's food basket. [25] |
Syria | The Al-Jazira area in northwestern Syria, and its Euphrates basin is considered the country's breadbasket due to its abundance of wheat. |
Thailand | The Chao Phraya delta is considered the rice bowl of Thailand. |
Vietnam | The Mekong delta in Vietnam is considered the country's rice bowl. |
State | Breadbasket / Ricebowl |
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Bulgaria | Southern Dobruja, a fertile plain region in Bulgaria's northeast between the Danube and the Black Sea, is commonly considered the country's breadbasket. [26] [27] |
Cyprus | The central plain called Mesaoria surrounding the capital Nicosia has long served as the island's granary. |
Finland | The regions of Southwest Finland and Uusimaa, have the warmest climatic conditions in continental Finland and fertile soil thanks to their southern location, making them the breadbaskets of Finland. [28] |
France | The Beauce plains are considered the breadbasket of France. |
Germany | East Prussia was considered as the breadbasket of the German Reich. [29] |
Hungary | The Hungarian Plain has produced significant amounts of grain and maize. In the early 20th century, 34% of Europe's total maize production and 11% of the European flour production was grown in Hungary. |
Ireland | The eastern half of Ireland is the traditional breadbasket of the country, with the western part being used for pasture. [30] In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Ireland was itself the breadbasket of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with Irish grain feeding Britain's industrial cities while Irish peasants subsisted on potatoes. [31] This would lead to the Great Famine of the 1840s. [32] [33] [34] |
Italy | Both Emilia-Romagna and Apulia are considered the breadbasket of Italy. |
Latvia | Semigallia is considered the breadbasket of Latvia. |
Portugal | The Alentejo is a flat and fertile region because it is located between the Tagus and Guadiana rivers. Due to this and its proximity to Lisbon, it has been considered “the breadbasket of Portugal” for centuries. [35] [36] Already in a document from 1639, written by Don Agostinho Manuel de Vasconcelos, the "Province of Alentejo" is described as "the most fertile granary of that Kingdom." [37] In 1833, the writer Don José Muñoz Maldonado published a book about the Peninsular War in which he also described "the fertile province of Alentejo, called the breadbasket of Portugal for its abundance." [38] |
Romania | In the 19th century, Romania was considered part of Europe's breadbasket. [39] |
Russia | There is the Central Black Earth Region in Russia proper. |
Serbia | Vojvodina was considered the breadbasket of Serbia. About 70% of its agricultural products are corn, 20% industrial herbs, and 10% other agricultural cultures. |
Spain | Historically, the southern region of Andalusia has been considered "the breadbasket of Spain." [40] [41] The conquest of Andalusia not only marked the success of the Reconquista, but also provided the Hispanic Monarchy with the most fertile and productive agricultural region in Iberia: the Guadalquivir Valley. With the well-deserved nickname of the granero de España, the accession of the great Andalusian valley meant the assurance of cereal supplies, especially wheat, but also olive trees, vineyards, orange trees, sugar cane, etc. [42] to which corn, strawberries, lemons, rice, etc. would later be added. In 1826, Alexandre de Laborde comments: «Andalusia is so abundant in wheat that it is rightly called "the breadbasket of Spain," in terms of harvesting twice as much as its consumption. Andalusia produces many exquisite wines, which is why they are regarded as the most valuable winery in Spain (...) In the kingdoms of Granada and Seville the vines are quite abundant (...) The olive harvest is so rich as prodigious in the four kingdoms of Andalusia.» [43] In irrigated lands, the orchards of Valencia and Murcia also stand out, since it has always been said that in Spain there were only two orchards, that of Valencia and that of Murcia. The autonomous community of Castile and León has also been considered the breadbasket of Spain, since large quantities of cereals are grown on its lands, mainly in addition to vineyards and legumes. Almería, with its sea of plastic, is considered the “garden of Europe”. |
Slovenia | In the 18th century, there were plans to drain the Ljubljana Marsh and transform it into the breadbasket of Carniola. [44] [45] |
Sweden | Scania is considered the breadbasket of Sweden. The yield per unit area is higher than in any other region in Sweden and the soil is among the most fertile in the world. The Scanian plains are an important resource for the rest of Sweden since 25–95% of the total production of various types of cereals come from the region. |
Turkey | Aegean Region, Marmara Region and Central Anatolia are considered the breadbasket of Turkey. Aegean Region and Marmara Region are famous for cultivation of olive trees, fruit cultivation and vegetable cultivations. Central Anatolia is famous for grain cultivation as such as wheat, maize, sunflowers and barley. |
Ukraine | Ukraine has long been known as the breadbasket of Europe. [46] When it was part of the Soviet Union, it had been known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. [47] |
United Kingdom | The East Anglia area of the East of England, Southeast England, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber in England and Scottish Lowlands are sometimes referred to as "Britain’s breadbasket" where a combination of climate, landscape and soils are well suited to growing wheat. East Anglia area of the East of England in 2010 is sufficient to produce 5,774 million loaves of bread. [48] In mediæval Wales, the Isle of Anglesey was so considered, that alone it can "provide a requisite quantity of corn for all the inhabitants". [49] |
In Canada, a major grain-growing area is called the Canadian prairies. Sometimes the province of Saskatchewan, also known for producing a huge supplement of potash, is further singled out from within this region as the main breadbasket of Canada.
In the United States, an important region is the Corn Belt, where maize and soybeans are major crops, which generally extends from the Great Lakes south through Missouri. [50] Further to the west in both the United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, is the Wheat Belt, where the climate is too severe for maize or soybeans. [51]
The Palouse region of Eastern Washington state is often referred to as the Breadbasket of the Pacific Northwest, due to its high production of cereal wheat and lentils.
During the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley was known as the Breadbasket of the Confederacy. [52]
Additionally, the San Joaquin Valley in California has also been called the breadbasket of the world. [53] The San Joaquin Valley produces the majority of the 12.8% of the United States' agricultural production (as measured by dollar value) that comes from California. [54] Grapes—table, raisin, and, to a lesser extent, wine—are perhaps the valley's highest-profile product, but equally (if not more) important are cotton, nuts (especially almonds and pistachios), citrus, and vegetables. 70% of the world's and 100% of the U.S. supply of almonds comes from the valley. Oranges, peaches, garlic, tangerines, tomatoes, kiwis, hay, alfalfa and numerous other crops have been harvested with great success. According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture's ranking of market value of agricultural products sold, nine of the nation's top 10, and 12 of the top 20, producing counties are in California. [54]
Brazil is the second biggest grain exporter in the world, with 19% of the international market share, and the fourth grain producer country (rice, barley, soybeans, corn and wheat) behind the United States, China and India. [55] Brazil is also the top global exporter of soybeans, sugarcane, orange juice, coffee, poultry, beef, maize, and the second biggest exporter of pork and cotton. The country also has a significant presence as producer and exporter of rice, wheat, eggs, cocoa, beans, nuts, and diverse fruits and vegetables.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Argentina was known as the breadbasket of the world, due to the importance that agriculture had, and still has, in the country. Argentina's cereal cultivation is found in the Pampas region, which encompasses the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba and La Pampa. Within this region, many cities, such as Pergamino, Venado Tuerto and Rosario, are one of the most fertile areas in the continent. Some of the plantations include soybeans, maize, wheat, barley, sunflower and peanut, among others.
In the 19th century, access to the Californian and Australian markets made wheat export a very lucrative activity, leading to the Chilean wheat cycle. [56] In the mid-19th century, those countries experienced large gold rushes, which created a large demand for wheat. Chile was at the time the "only wheat producer of some importance in the Pacific". [57]
The Murray-Darling Basin is seen as Australia's breadbasket, being the source of 40% of the nation's agricultural income, a third of the wheat harvest, 95 percent of the rice crop and other products such as fruit, wine and cotton. [58]
When New Zealand became a British colony, the fertile lands produced food that would be shipped back to England, causing New Zealand to become colloquially known (occasionally along with Australia) as Britain's breadbasket, subsequently leading to the Dunedin being the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat. She was refitted with a refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat and quinoa, are pseudocereals. Most cereals are annuals, producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a perennial. Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres.
Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal, or it can be mixed with spices, meat, or vegetables to make a savoury dish. It is usually served hot in a bowl, depending on its consistency. Oat porridge, or oatmeal, is one of the most common types of porridge. Gruel is a thinner version of porridge and congee is a savoury variation of porridge of Asian origin.
The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States and part of the Southern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominated corn production in the United States. In North America, corn is the common word for maize. More generally, the concept of the Corn Belt connotes the area of the Midwest dominated by farming and agriculture, though it stretches down into the South as well reaching into Kentucky.
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agricultural products. Healthy grain supply and trade is important to many societies, providing a caloric base for most food systems as well as important role in animal feed for animal agriculture.
Agriculture is one of the bases of Argentina's economy.
Intensive crop farming is a modern industrialized form of crop farming. Intensive crop farming's methods include innovation in agricultural machinery, farming methods, genetic engineering technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, patent protection of genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations.
Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word feed more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input to animal agriculture, and is frequently the main cost of the raising or keeping of animals. Farms typically try to reduce cost for this food, by growing their own, grazing animals, or supplementing expensive feeds with substitutes, such as food waste like spent grain from beer brewing.
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the first and second quarter of 2008, creating a global crisis and causing political and economic instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Although the media spotlight focused on the riots that ensued in the face of high prices, the ongoing crisis of food insecurity had been years in the making. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject of debate. After peaking in the second quarter of 2008, prices fell dramatically during the late-2000s recession but increased during late 2009 and 2010, reaching new heights in 2011 and 2012 at a level slightly higher than the level reached in 2008. Over the next years, prices fell, reaching a low in March 2016 with the deflated Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index close to pre-crisis level of 2006.
Agriculture in Portugal is based on small to medium-sized family-owned dispersed units; however, the sector also includes larger-scale intensive farming export-oriented agrobusinesses backed by companies. The extent of cooperative organisation has been reaching a greater importance with globalization. Portugal produces a wide variety of products, including green vegetables, rice, corn, wheat, barley, olives, oilseeds, nuts, cherries, bilberry, table grapes and edible mushrooms. Forestry has also played an important economic role among the rural communities and industry. In 2013, the gross agricultural product accounted for 2.4% of the GDP. Portugal is the largest world producer of both cork and carob, as well as the third largest exporter of chestnut and the third largest European producer of pulp. Portugal is among the top ten largest olive oil producers in the world and is the fourth biggest exporter. The country is also one of the world's largest exporters of wine, being reputed for its fine wines. The land area of slightly more than 9.2 million hectares was classified as follows : 2,755 arable land and permanent crops, 530 permanent pasture, 3,640 forest and woodland, and 2,270 other land.
Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native Americans planted it alongside beans and squashes in the Three Sisters polyculture. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern commercial varieties, these are usually yellow or white; other varieties can be of many colors.
A flour tortilla or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. Made with flour- and water-based dough, it is pressed and cooked, similar to corn tortillas. The simplest recipes use only flour, water, fat, and salt, but commercially-made flour tortillas generally contain chemical leavening agents such as baking powder, and other ingredients.
Throughout its history, agriculture in Paraguay has been the mainstay of the economy. This trend has continued today and in the late 1980s the agricultural sector generally accounted for 48 percent of the nation's employment, 23 percent of GDP, and 98 percent of export earnings. The sector comprised a strong food and cash crop base, a large livestock subsector including cattle ranching and beef production, and a vibrant timber industry.
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes.
There are numerous effects of climate change on agriculture, many of which are making it harder for agricultural activities to provide global food security. Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns often result in lower crop yields due to water scarcity caused by drought, heat waves and flooding. These effects of climate change can also increase the risk of several regions suffering simultaneous crop failures. Currently this risk is regarded as rare but if these simultaneous crop failures did happen they would have significant consequences for the global food supply. Many pests and plant diseases are also expected to either become more prevalent or to spread to new regions. The world's livestock are also expected to be affected by many of the same issues, from greater heat stress to animal feed shortfalls and the spread of parasites and vector-borne diseases.
A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans, a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Typical examples include grains, seeds, nuts and root vegetables. Among them, cereals, legumes and tubers account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.
During 2022 and 2023 there were food crises in several regions as indicated by rising food prices. In 2022, the world experienced significant food price inflation along with major food shortages in several regions. Sub-Saharan Africa, Iran, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Iraq were most affected. Prices of wheat, maize, oil seeds, bread, pasta, flour, cooking oil, sugar, egg, chickpea and meat increased. Many factors have contributed to the ongoing world food crisis. These include supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021–2023 global energy crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and floods and heatwaves during 2021. Droughts were also a factor; in early 2022, some areas of Spain and Portugal lost 60–80% of their crops due to widespread drought.
Food from Ukraine was as important to the Nazi vision of an eastern empire as it was to Stalin's defense of the integrity of the Soviet Union. Stalin's Ukrainian 'fortress' was Hitler's Ukrainian 'breadbasket.' [...] Hitler wanted Ukraine 'so that no one is able to starve us again, like in the last war.'
The Philippines is the world's third-leading exporter of bananas. Three-quarters of the country's production of the fruit comes from Mindanao, long known as the Philippines' food basket.
Andalusia has sometimes been defined "as the orchard and granary of Spain", due to its rich crops of cereals and olive trees, vineyards and orange trees, sugar canes, etc. In the early fifties, the weight of Andalusian agricultural production was extremely important for the Spanish economy.
so could the Isle of Mona (Anglesey) provide a requisite quantity of corn for all the inhabitants: on which account there is an old British proverb, "Mon mam Cymbry," that is, "Mona is the mother of Wales."