Wheat Quality: Trends in Wheat-Producing Developing Countries

摘要

Wheat contributes 30-60% of people's calorie intake in many wheat-producing developing countries. In addition, wheat cropping is an important source of income for rural households and a significant component of national economies. Rural people are often forced to abandon their farms due to factors such as scarcity of water for agriculture, soil erosion, and high prices of farm inputs, and move into urban areas to look for better jobs and improved livelihoods. This trend has significantly increased the demand for processed, wheat-based convenience foods, both traditional and non-traditional. As a result, the milling and baking industries in those countries look for specific qualities that satisfy their processing needs and consumer preferences. Freewheat trading now allows local mills in some of those countries to satisfy their quality needs from the international wheat market, making it difficult for local producers to sell their crops, especially if they do not fulfill the required quality characteristics. Local wheat trading in many developing countries is now based mainly on wheat quality attributes. For this reason, many wheat-producing developed countries have tried to define the quality traits required by their processing industries and todirect breeding efforts towards improving wheat quality according to local or regional needs. This paper describes the current status of wheat quality, quality standards, wheat consumption trends, and wheat improvement in the main wheat-producers in thedeveloping world.