First, the spread history of wheat in China
The origin of wheat is in the crescent land of West Asia. About 6.5438 million years ago, wheat was planted in West Asia, and then it was widely planted in the two river basins. Around 5000 BC, wheat, a crop in West Asia, began to spread eastward.
Newly discovered archaeological evidence shows that wheat was introduced to China at least 4000 years ago. Carbonized wheat more than 4,000 years ago was found in Peacock River Basin in Xinjiang, Donghuishan Site in Gansu and Liaocheng in Shandong. Later, wheat was gradually planted in the Central Plains from west to east, and around 3000 BC, wheat was planted in the Yellow River basin. In the end, wheat replaced millet and other crops and became the main food crop in the north.
Second, the development of wheat in China
China has a vast territory and diverse environment. Now, wheat is planted all over the country in China. The main producing areas are Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Shaanxi. Wheat planting can be divided into spring wheat area, northern winter wheat area and southern winter wheat area according to its geographical location and planting methods. Now, China has become the country with the largest wheat planting area and output in the world. In 2020, the wheat output in China has reached 1.3 1.68 million tons, ranking first in the world.
On 20 16, Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology continued to excavate the Haojing site. Archaeologists found a batch of carbonized wheat grains in a ash pit used for landfill in the middle of Western Zhou Dynasty. Although it has been more than 2800 years, the shape of wheat grains is still well preserved. It shows that at least in the middle of Western Zhou Dynasty, wheat has been planted on a large scale in Haojing area of Guodu.