Breadbasket

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This article is about the cultural/political concept. For other uses, see Basket (disambiguation).
"Rice bowl" redirects here. For the American football championship in Japan, see Rice Bowl.
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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

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]

History

Further information: Grain trade

Classical antiquity

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
.

Africa

Wheat field in Miliana, Algeria

In

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] There seems to be more of a debate if Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa, as over a 55-year period Zimbabwe never topped a 10% share of maize on the continent. From 1960 to 1980 it only hit 6% lower than Kenya's contribution and on par with Nigeria.

Morocco

Since

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).

Asia

Wheatfield in Punjab, India
Ricefield in Nueva Ecija, Philippines
State Breadbasket / Ricebowl
Cambodia
Battambang Province was coined as the rice bowl of Cambodia due to the region's fertile fields.[15]
China
Yangtze River such as Henan, southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang
have also been known for their rich fertility.

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.

Europe

Wheatfield in County Kildare, Ireland
Wheat fields near Lund in Scania, Sweden.
State Breadbasket / Ricebowl
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
potatoes.[31] This would lead to the Great Famine of the 1840s.[32][33][34]
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
Central Anatolia
is famous for grain cultivation asuch 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
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]

The Americas

North America

The United States Corn Belt

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.[1]

During the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley was known as the Breadbasket of the Confederacy.[52]

Additionally, the

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]

South America

Barleyfield in Los Toldos, Argentina

beans, nuts
, and diverse fruits and vegetables.

During the 19th and 20th centuries,

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]

Oceania

Australia

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]

New Zealand

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.

References

  1. ^ Than, Ker (3 May 2012). "Scientists Race to Save World's Rice Bowl From Climate Change". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ^ Bryce, Emma (8 May 2013). "Wildlife forced out of California 'salad bowl' by food safety regulations". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  3. ^ Kaplan, Sheila. "Salinas, California: The Salad Bowl of Pesticides". Politics Daily. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  4. ^ For example: Ukraine in 1941–1944 during World War II:
    ISBN 9780465002399
    . 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.'
  5. ^ a b Woetzel, Jonathan. "Will the world's breadbaskets become less reliable?". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  6. ^ Julia Horowitz (12 March 2022). "War has brought the world to the brink of a food crisis". CNN. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  7. ^ Lynch, Colum. "U.N. to Keep Beasley at WFP as Food Crises Roil the World". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  8. ^ McDonough, Siobhan (27 February 2022). "What the Russian invasion of Ukraine could mean for global hunger". Vox. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  9. ISSN 0362-4331
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  10. ^ Good, Keith (21 March 2022). ""Global Food Crisis" Possible- – "No Precedent Even Close to This Since World War II" • Farm Policy News". Farm Policy News. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
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  12. ^ "South Africa : Accommodation : Free State". 28 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 March 2006.
  13. ^ "Overberg & Whale Coast Touring Map: Overberg... The Breadbasket of South Africa". www.thegeoshop.co.za. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010.
  14. ^ "From Breadbasket to Dustbowl". 13 April 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Farmer-focused partnership leads to improvement, innovation of Cambodia's rice sector".
  16. ^ "India takes blow to the breadbasket". The National. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Most Crucial facts about Andhra Pradesh (The Rice Bowl of India)". Jagranjosh.com. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Reviving Our Rice Bowl: Bengal Farmers Preserve 200+ Traditional Rice Varieties". The Better India. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  19. ^ "The Seoul Times". theseoultimes.com. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  20. ^ "JEONJUCITY BLOG". JEONJUCITY BLOG. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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  22. ^ "The Story of Jeonju Bibimbap". koreatourinformation.com. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  23. ^ Gi, Jang Seul (10 September 2019). "Typhoon Lingling ravages North Korea's breadbasket". Daily NK. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Pakistan flood: Sindh braces as water envelops southern Punjab". Guardian. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  25. ^ Anonymous (15 October 2015). "Fruits of peace". The Economist. Retrieved 30 October 2019. 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.
  26. ^ Vatahov, Ivan (23 August 2001). "Drought leads to low yields in Dobrudja". The Sofia Echo. Sofia Echo Media Ltd. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  27. ISBN 9781783083510
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  28. ^ "Elinkeinoelämä". Regional Council of Southwest Finland. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  29. ^ Einst Deutschlands Kornkammer: Neusiedler haben keine Beziehung zum Land, Ostpreussen-Warte, 1960
  30. ^ "Food, feasting and folklore". www.independent.ie.
  31. ISBN 9781603585682
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  32. ^ bairishstudies (12 January 2016). "The Eighteenth-century Celtic Tiger".
  33. ISBN 9780814799079
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  34. ISBN 9780567204974
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  35. ^ "Guía de Portugal: Região do Alentejo". Guia da Cidade (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  36. ^ "Alentejo". Interreg España-Portugal: Eurorregión AAA (Alentejo-Algarve-Andalucía). Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  37. ^ De Vasconcellos, Agostinho Manuel (1639). Vida y acciones del Real Don Iuan el Segundo, Decimotercio de Portugal (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta de Maria de Quiñones. p. 315.
  38. ^ Maldonado, José Muñoz [in Spanish] (1833). Historia Politica y Militar de la Guerra de la Independencia de Espana contra Napoleon Bonaparte desde 1808 a 1814, escrita sobre los documentos autenticos del gobierno (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta de D. José Palacios.
  39. ^ Sheilah Kast and Jim Rosapepe, Dracula Is Dead (2009) p 104
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  41. ISBN 978-84-9967-789-7
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  42. ISBN 978-84-505-0251-0
    . 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.
  43. ^ Laborde, Alexandre Louis Joseph (1826). Itinerario descriptivo de las provincias de España: su situación geográfica, poblacion, historia civil y natural, agricultura, comercio, industria, hombres célebres y carácter y costumbres de sus habitantes (in Spanish). Libr. de Cabrerizo. pp. 493.
  44. ^ Melik, Anton. 1959. Slovenija: Geografski Opis, vol. 2, part 3. Ljubljana: Slovenska Matica, p. 187.
  45. ^ Vidic, Marko. 1987. "Agrarna revolucija." Enciklopedija Slovenije, vol. 1, pp. 20–21. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga.
  46. ^ Ukraine's fraught relationship with Russia: A brief history. The Week. March 8, 2014
  47. ^ Verbyany, Volodymyr; de Sousa, Agnieszka (20 June 2021). "One of the Most Fertile Nations Wants to Feed the World". Bloomberg. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  48. ^ "Farming in East Anglia". www.nfuonline.com. National Farmers' Union. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  49. ^ The Description of Wales – via Project Gutenberg. 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."
  50. ^ "Corn Belt Region, United States", Encyclopædia Britannica, retrieved 21 July 2016
  51. ^ "Wheat Belt Region, North America", Encyclopædia Britannica, retrieved 21 July 2016
  52. ^ ""Our once beautiful but now desolated Valley"". Shenandoah at War. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  53. ^ "EB5 Northern California – Breadbasket Of The World". eb5northerncalifornia.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  54. ^ a b "Agricultural Statistical Review" (PDF). California Agricultural Resource Directory 2008–2009. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  55. Embrapa
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  56. ^ (in Spanish) La Hacienda (1830–1930). Memoria Chilena.
  57. ^ (in Spanish) Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974. Historia De Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Chile. pp. 481–485.
  58. ^ "The Murray-Darling Basin: A catchment in crisis". Special Broadcasting Service. 17 September 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2008.[permanent dead link]

Further reading

Look up breadbasket in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Myanmar Business Today; Print Edition, 27 February 2014. A Roadmap to Building Myanmar into the Food Basket of Asia, by David DuByne & Hishamuddin Koh
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