Introduction

• Wheat is a staple crop for a significant proportion of the world’s

population.
• Wheat is rich in carbohydrates, protein and essential vitamins and
minerals such as vitamins B and E, calcium and iron, as well as
fibre.
• It is world’s most widely cultured crop occupying 22% cultivated
areas.
• It is the major crop of USA, Canada and Asia, it is C3 crop not well
adapted to tropical and subtropical condition.
• As many as 25 species recognised in the world, only 3 species
namely, T.aestivum/vulgare (Bread wheat), T.durum (Macroni
wheat) & T. dicoccum (Emmer wheat) commercially grown in
India.
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 Wheat (T. aestivum)

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Division: Magnoliophyta
• Class: Liliopsida
• Order: Cyperales
• Family: Poaceae
• Genus: Triticum
• Species: Triticum aestivum
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 History

• Cultivation of wheat began to spread beyond the

Fertile Crescent after about 8000 BC
• Spread of cultivated wheat started in the Fertile
Crescent about 8500 BC, reaching Greece, Cyprus
and India by 6500 BC, Egypt shortly after 6000
BC.
• The early Egyptians were developers of bread and
the use of the oven and developed baking into
one of the first large-scale food production
industries-
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 Origin
• Wheat has evolved from wild grasses.
• The centre of origin is South Asia.
• Large genetic variability is observed in Iran,
Isreal, and Bordering countires.

Ploidy level Origin

Diploid (2X) Asia minor
Tetraploid (4X) Abyssinia, North Africa
Hexaploid (6X) Central Asia

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 Region of wheat origin: Region of wheat cultivation:

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 Global Wheat Production

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 Wheat production in India

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 Wheat uses
• Foods made with wheat are a major part of the diet for
over a third of the world's people.
• wheat can be found in some form at almost every
meal.
 Breads,
 cookies,
 cakes,
 crackers,
 macaroni,
 spaghetti,
 and other forms of pasta are made from flour, which is
ground up kernels of wheat.

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 Important Species of Wheat

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 Major cultivated species of wheat
• Durum - (T. durum) The only tetraploid form of wheat widely
used today, and the second most widely cultivated wheat today.

• Einkorn - (T. monococcum) A diploid species with wild and

cultivated variants . One of the earliest cultivated, but rarely
planted today.

• Common Wheat or Bread wheat - (T. aestivum) A hexaploid

species that is the most widely cultivated in the world.

• Emmer - (T. dicocum) A tetraploid species, cultivated in ancient

times but no longer in widespread use.

• Spelta - (T. spelta) Another hexaploid species cultivated in

limited quantities.
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 Indian Wheat Classification

• Indian Wheat is largely soft / medium hard, medium protein (9 - 12.5%), bread
wheat
• Three species of Wheat namely, (i) T. aestivum, (ii) T. durum and (iii) T.
dicoccum are being cultivated in the country, as per details given as under :

S.No. Species % Share of Production Major Growing Areas

i T. aestivum 95% Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal,
Assam, Parts of Madhya Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir
ii T. durum 4% Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra,
Gujarat, Southern Rajasthan and
few locations in Punjab.
iii T. dicoccum 1% Karnataka, Maharastra & Tamil
Nadu
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 DEVELOPMENT OF COMMON WHEAT

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