Journ. d'Agric. Trad, et de Bota. Appl. XXXII, 1985
HISTORY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF WHEAT IN INDIA
V.P. KULSHRESTHA (*)
Acknowledgments
Grateful thanks are due to Dr. Shyam Prakash for critically reading the manuscript and suggesting improvements, to Dr. Om Prakash (retired) of Delhi University for discussions on the subject and reading the script.
Introduction
Wheat occupies, in both production and area, the second important position among food crops of India and is superseded only by rice. However, in the northern plains of the country, lying between 22-32° latitude, comprising largely the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, wheat is a dominant crop. The vast Indo-Gangatic plains offer the most suitable climate for wheat culture. The region, which gives a rich crop, is aptly called the "wheat bowl of India". The states in these plains together contribute 86.7 % of the total production of wheat, which now stands 37.8 million tonnes produced from 22.3 million hectares (Anon., 1982).
On the world scene, India is the fourth major wheat producing country, contributing 7.96 % to the world production. In area too, India ranks fourth in the world (FAO, 1982).
Three species of wheat viz., Triticum aestivum L. (bread wheat), T. durum Desf. (macaroni wheat) and T. dicoccum Schflbl. (emmer wheat), which originated in the
(*) Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Cummings Laboratory New Delhi 110012 India.
