Staple crops
Feeding the world
Only a handful of plants dominate our fields and our diet. But not all of them only end up on our plates, some also end up in the feed trough or in the tank. Even if the diversity on our plates increases again in the future, they will continue to play an important role. Cultivation today is sometimes associated with major challenges. How will we solve them in the future?
Get to know some of the most important main crops here:
🌽 Corn (Zea mays)
Where it comes from
- The sweet grass originally comes from Central America (Mexico and Peru).
- The inconspicuous wild grass “teosinte” is considered to be the original form of today's maize.
- It was already cultivated in Mexico around 5000 BC.
How it grows
- On around 200 million hectares worldwide (as of 2023).
- Largest producers: USA, China, Brazil.
- In Europe, mainly in France, Poland and Romania.
Why it is important
- There are major differences in the use of maize between different countries: In industrialized countries, maize is mainly used as livestock feed and for energy production (e.g. for biogas). In low-income countries in the global South, maize is mainly used as a staple food (e.g. for maize flour).
Why it's special
- Maize is a so-called “C4 plant”: it binds CO2 better than other plants (such as wheat, rice or soy) and is very efficient at photosynthesis: in warmer regions with higher light irradiation, it produces particularly high yields.
- Great genetic diversity - the basis for breeding climate-resistant varieties.
These are challenges
- Climate change leads to temperature fluctuations and water shortages, making maize cultivation more difficult: without adaptation, maize production is expected to fall by 20 percent. The United States, China, South America and sub-Saharan Africa are particularly affected.
These are solutions
- With targeted breeding (precision breeding or smart breeding), it is possible to develop new maize varieties without interfering with the genetic material and to maintain the diversity of traditional varieties.
- At the same time, many companies are working on genetically modified maize with improved properties. Since 2013, for example, so-called DroughtGard maize has been cultivated in the USA, which produces higher yields in drought conditions.
Trivia
- In many indigenous societies, such as the Maya in Mexico, corn is considered “sacred” and has an important cultural significance.
🌱 Soy (Glycine max)
Where it comes from
- The legume originally comes from East Asia (China and Japan).
- Wild forms of soybeans were already being roasted in China around 7,000 BC.
Where it grows
- On around 130 million hectares worldwide (as of 2023)
- eight percent of the global arable land
- Largest producers: Brazil, USA, Argentina.
- Global soybean cultivation has more than doubled in the last 20 years.
- In 2023, Europe imported around 85% of its soybean requirements from abroad.
Why it is important
- Soybeans are the world's most important source of vegetable protein.
- Around 80 percent of the soybean harvest is used as animal feed (mainly for fattening pigs and poultry).
Why it's special
- The cultivation of genetically modified soy is not permitted in the EU, but it can be imported and is mainly used in livestock feed. Genetically modified varieties are cultivated on around three quarters of the plant's global acreage - primarily in North and South America.
These are challenges
- The growing demand for soy means that more and more forests around the world are being cut down to grow soy. The problem is not tofu, but the growing consumption of meat
- Soy is often grown on monoculture plantations in South America. This promotes soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and releases greenhouse gases.
- The high use of pesticides in industrial soy cultivation pollutes water and soil - and endangers the local population.
These are solutions
- If we were to eat the protein-rich soy directly instead of feeding it to animals, we could meet our protein requirements sustainably - and use the land required for animal husbandry for other purposes.
Trivia
- In their country of origin, China, soybeans are known as the “meat of the earth”.
- Until the beginning of the Second World War, China was the main area of cultivation, accounting for 87 percent of the global harvest.
🌾 wheat (Triticum aestivum / durum)
Where it comes from
- The wild forms of today's wheat come from the Near East (Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon) and were collected and cultivated 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
- Our modern wheat is a purely cultivated species. It originated from a cross between different wild grass species.
where it grows
- On around 220 million hectares worldwide (as of 2023)
- Largest producers: China, EU (mainly France and Germany), India and Russia.
- There are different types of wheat that are grown for different purposes. A distinction is made between soft wheat (for baked goods such as bread) and durum wheat (for pasta such as noodles).
Why it is important
- Wheat is one of the oldest cultivated plants known to mankind.
- The plant plays a central role in global food security: bread wheat alone covers 20 percent of global human calorie consumption.
why it is special
- The genome of common wheat is extremely large and complex: with more than 100,000 genes, it is over five times larger than that of humans.
These are challenges
- (The industrial cultivation of wheat in Europe requires a lot of fertilizers and pesticides. This has negative consequences for groundwater, soil and biodiversity).
- Aggressive harmful fungi such as “black rust” are spreading worldwide due to rising temperatures - in addition to crop failures and rising world market prices, this also leads to higher pesticide use.
These are solutions
- New approaches such as “speed breeding” accelerate the breeding of new varieties by growing a generation of wheat three times as fast as in the field.
- A sustainable alternative to annual wheat varieties could be perennial species, as the soil does not need to be plowed annually and fewer chemicals are required.
Trivia
- Grain was already an important staple food in ancient Egypt. Pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial gifts included meat, fruit, bread and wheat as well as gold and jewelry.
- Wheat needs a lot of nutrient-rich, heavy soil with a high water capacity. The fertile black earth soils in Ukraine and Russia are therefore particularly suitable for cultivation.
🍚 Rice (Oryza sativa / glaberrima)
Where it comes from
- Oryza sativa is the world's best-known type of rice and comes from South East Asia (China, India, Thailand). It was already being cultivated 7000 years ago.
- The African rice species Oryza glaberrima is mainly cultivated in West Africa.
How it grows
- On around 165 million hectares worldwide.
- Largest producers: China, India and Indonesia.
- 90 percent of global rice production is grown in Asia - in most countries still by hand on the typical rice terraces.
- Rice is the main source of food for more than half of the world's population and is central to food security in Asia and Africa.
- Around 8,000 different rice varieties are planted worldwide - they are adapted to very different climates and conditions through breeding.
Why it's special
- The typical cultivation method is wet rice cultivation in flooded fields. However, there are also rice varieties that get by with little water: so-called dry rice.
- Most rice plants need the warmth and humidity of the subtropical climate. However, there are also some varieties from Europe, such as risotto rice
- High water consumption: wet rice cultivation requires 3000-5000 liters of water per kilo.
These are challenges
- Global rice cultivation is bad for the climate because the fields emit a lot of methane. According to the Max Planck Society, wet rice cultivation is responsible for 10 to 25 percent of global methane emissions.
These are solutions
- Alternative cultivation methods: With the water-saving irrigation technique “Alternate wetting and drying” (AWD), the rice field is not continuously flooded, but alternately wetted and dried - this saves water and reduces methane emissions.
- The addition of so-called cable bacteria during rice cultivation has reduced methane production by more than 90 percent in the laboratory. Field tests are still pending.
- Research is being conducted into new rice varieties that are, for example, more resistant to diseases and climatic conditions, contain more nutrients or cause less methane emissions.
- Combating nutrient deficiency: The enrichment of food with nutrients through plant breeding is known as “biofortification”. The best-known example of this is the so-called “golden rice”, which has been genetically modified to increase its vitamin A content. It was first cultivated in the Philippines, but was stopped again at the instigation of Greenpeace following a court ruling.
Trivia
- In many Asian languages, the words for “rice” and “food” are identical - a sign of the importance of this plant for nutrition on the Asian continent.
- In Asia, around 150 kilograms of rice are consumed per capita every year. In America it is eleven kilograms and in Germany only five kilograms.