Wheat is a worldwide cultivated grass. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the 3rd most-produced cereal after maize (784 million tons) and rice (651 million tons). Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for chapatties,  breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles etc. It is also used for fermentation to make beer, alcohol, vodka, or biofuel. Wheat is planted as a forage crop for livestock, and the straw can be used as fodder for livestock or as a construction material for roofing thatch. Top 10 Wheat Producers in 2007 are- European Union, China, India, United States, Russia, Canada, Pakistan, Turkey, Argentina and Iran.

Plant breeding:- It is believed that wheat was developed from a type of wild grass native to the arid lands of Asia Minor. Cultivation of wheat is thought to have originated in the Euphrates Valley as early as 10,000 B.C. In the Mediterranean region, centuries before recorded history, wheat was an important food. Wheat played such a dominant role in the Roman Empire that at the time it often was referred to as a “Wheat Empire.”

The origins of formal wheat breeding lie in the 19th century.  Single line varieties were created through selection of seed from a single plant. Modern wheat breeding developed in the first years of the 20th century. Commercial hybrid wheat seed has been produced using chemical hybridizing agents and plant growth regulators. The major breeding objectives include high grain yield, good quality, disease and insect resistance and tolerance to abiotic stresses include mineral, moisture and heat tolerance. The major diseases in temperate environments include Fusarium head blight, leaf rust and stem rust. A wide range of organisms infect wheat, of which the most important are viruses and fungi.

Wheat can be produced in a wide range of climates and soil conditions. The production of wheat is so widespread that it is being harvested somewhere in the world in any given month. But wheat grows best in regions having temperate climates with rainfall between 12 and 36 inches per year. While winter wheat lies dormant during a winter freeze, wheat normally requires between 110 and 130 days between planting and harvest, depending upon climate, seed type, and soil conditions.

Major cultivated species of wheat:- The major cultivated species of wheat are Common wheat or Bread wheat- is the most widely cultivated in the world, Durum- the form of wheat widely used today, and the 2nd most widely cultivated wheat,  Einkorn- a species with wild and cultivated variants, Emmer- a species, cultivated in ancient times but no longer in widespread use and Spelt-  a species cultivated in limited quantities.

Food Value:- Wheat  contains more than 50  percent of Carbohydrates, a good amount of Dietary fiber and Fat, and some small amount of Protein, Thiamine (Vit. B1),  Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Niacin   (Vit. B3), Pantothenic acid,  Vitamin B6,  Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Manganese.

Health concerns:- Roughly 1% of the population has coeliac disease-a condition that is caused by an adverse immune system reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat.