Wheat world production

Table 1. Wheat World Production, Consumption, and Net Exports, 1985/1986 (million metric tons)a,b...

A nation of one biUion people, China is traditionally regarded as a rice-eating nation. But China grows almost as much wheat as the United States and buys and uses more wheat than any other country in the world. Each person in China on the average consumes 180 lb of wheat every year, mosdy in the form of noodles. The average American eats only about 116 lb of wheat flour per year in all types of wheat-based products. Some nations have much higher per capita consumption, up to 300 lb of wheat per year per person (46—48). 

Rice is grown in more than 100 countries and on every continent except Antarctica. In the world economy rice is an extremely important food, second only to wheat in total world production, and its yield per hectare exceeds that of wheat (57). Rice is the main staple food for more than half of the world s population and it accounts for one-third to one-half of the daily caloric intake in many Asian countries. It is also the major source of protein for the masses of Asian people. In many African and South American countries rice is rapidly becoming the staple food for much of the population. 

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is an important contributor to human nutrition in many parts of the world. Sweet potato ranks sixth in annual world production at 137 million metric tons (1975-1977) (1) behind wheat, rice, maize, potato, and barley. 

Starch is one of the most abimdant plant polysaccharides and is a major source of carbohydrates and energy in the human diet (Zobel and Stephen, 1995). Starch is the most widely used hydrocolloid in the food industry (Wanous, 2004), and is also a widely used industrial substrate polymer. Total annual world production of starch is approximately 60 million MT and it is predicted to increase by additional approximately 10 million MT by 2010 (FAO, 2006b LMC International, 2002 S. K. Patil and Associates, 2007). Com/maize Zea mays L.), cassava (also known as tapioca—Manihot escu-lenta Crantn.), sweet potato Ipomoea batatas L.), wheat Triticum aestivum L.), and potato Solanum tuberosum L.) are the major sources of starch, while rice Oryza sativa L.), barley Hordeum vulgare L.), sago Cycas spp.), arrowroot Tacca leontopetaloides (L.) Kimtze), buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), etc. contribute in lesser amounts to total global production. 

Outside of the use of cellulose for papermaking, starch is the most widely used plant-derived carbohydrate for non-food uses. Around 60 million tonnes of raw starch are produced per year for food and non-food uses. The US accounts for most of the world s production, utilising starch from maize, which accounts for over 80% of world production. The starch market in the US is driven by the large isoglucose sweetener market and now increasingly by the growing bioethanol market, which uses maize as a fermentation feedstock. Europe derives most of its starch from wheat and potatoes, which account for 8% and 5% of world starch production, respectively. The other main source of starch is cassava (tapioca), produced in South East Asia. Small amounts of oat, barley and rice are also exploited for starch production. Many edible beans are also rich in starches, but are not commonly exploited for non-food uses. 

Estimated annual world wheat starch production was 2.11 million tons in 1993 and increased to 2.36 million tons in 1996.28 Because of significant expansion in manufacturing capacity in several countries, wheat starch production rose to 4.67 million tons in 2007 (Table 10.2).42 However, this production figure for wheat starch represents only a small fraction of the total world starch production of 60 million tons 41 By raw materials, wheat represents only 8% of world starch production, while potato, cassava and other crops contribute 4%, 14% and 1%, respectively com dominates at 73%. Approximately 52% of world starch is produced in the USA, 17% in the EU and 31% in other places 43 Wheat starch (<0.5% protein) is commercially produced in about 59 manufacturing plants in some 30 countries. The top 10 producers are France, the United States, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Japan and China. 

Table 10.2 Estimated world wheat starch production...

Figure 13.1 World Production of Wheat, Corn and Rice.

As stated in Chapter 1, wheat is the cereal that has attracted by far the most research efforts. A good deal of this research has adopted theory from the basic sciences and more conceptual ideas have emerged for wheat than for the other cereals. Nevertheless, world production and utilization of rice and maize (corn) are of the same order as that for wheat. 

Starch. Starch, thermoplastic (qv) (41,42) is a major agricultural commodity and, by far, the most inexpensive commercial biopoljuner it is the only biopolymer that is competitive with polyethylene in price. Annual world production, over 32 million metric tons, is from corn (maize), potatoes, rice, tapioca (cassava), barley, wheat, and other crops. Approximately 16 million metric tons are produced in the United States each year, mainly by extraction from corn but also from potatoes, wheat, and other sources. 

Starch is isolated mainly from the sources listed in Table 4.23. Starch obtained from corn, potatoes, cassava, and wheat in the native and modified form accounted for 99% of the world production in 1980. Some other starches are also available commercially. Recently, starches obtained from legumes (peas, lentils) have become more interesting because they have properties which appear to make them a suitable substitute for chemically modified sfarches in a series of prod-ucfs. 

CEREAL GRAINS. Much of the world is dependent upon calories supplied by a single cereal staple which supplies carbohydrate in the form of starch. For example, in Afghanistan and Pakistan the staple is wheat, and in Mexico and Central America it is corn (maize). In China and southeastern Asia, regions of the world with the largest population, the staple is rice. Annually, world production of these three cereals dwarfs the production of all other plant foods. American diets derive carbohydrates from wheat, corn, and rice because they appear in so many forms. Other cereal... 

WORLD AND U.S. PRODUCTION. World production of rye is about 37 million metric tons, only about 6% of the world production of wheat, and only 2% of the world production of cereals. Rye is more important in Europe and Asia than in the western hemisphere. The Soviet Union is the leading world producer, followed by Poland, Germany, China, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, and Spain. ... 

America, Australia, and a large part of Asia. One-third of the world s population depends on wheat as its main staple. Total world production of wheat Is about 250 g per day per person, enough to supply 800 Calories (kcal) and 30 g of protein daily if it were evenly distributed and unrefined, in many developing countries, wheat supplies 40 to 50% of the available energy and protein. 

The annual world production of s. by - wet milling is 45 X 10 mt. Production is concentrated on just a few s. carriers, which are - maize, - cassava, - wheat, ->potato, sorghum, sweet potato, and - rice (- Starch, EU-Market). Production and application of s. from barley, oats, rye and triticale have been successfully tried as well as s. of legumes, such as pea, beans or lentils. Some other tropical s. sources are of local interest, mainly to third world countries . Special varieties with extraordinary high contents of - amylose or - amylopectin are of partial interest in special industrial and food applications. 

Despite the leading position of maize, wheat and potato, the amounts of raw materials utilized for s. production is small compared to the entire world production of these three crops (1998) ... 

The entire world production of starch and starch products is in steady increase. It is estimated to be about 45 X 10 mt/a. (not including gasohol), with over the half produced in North America, followed by Asia and the Europe. - Com starch accounts for about 74% (33 x 10 mt) of the production, followed by 10% (4.5 X 10 mt) maniok (tapioka, cassava), 8% (3.6 X 10 mt) of - wheat and 7%... 

World wheat starch production takes the third position (8%) after cassava starch (10%) and com starch (74%). In the EU (1998) w. has reached 1.8 X 10 mt/a this is the second position behind corn and before potato (- starch industry, world). Lit. Seib, P.A., J.applied Glycoscience (Jap.) 41 (1994), 49-69... 

There is around 60 million tons of raw starch produced annually for food and nonfood uses. The major sources of starch include rice, wheat, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), and com, which accounts for over 80% of the world production. Com is used in the United States as a fermentation feedstock for bioethanol production, discussed later in this chapter. Starch is produced by steeping the raw material in hot water, which releases the starch from the binders also present in the biomass. 

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