Fields of wheat are still grown around Cartagena in Spain although cash crops such as lettuce and broccoli have almost taken over since the appearance of irrigation systems more than 20 years ago.
Wheat has been grown in Spain for a very long time and it was a granary in the times of ancient Rome providing food for the Imperial city and elsewhere in the empire.
Wheat has been cultivated since at least around 8,500BC. It reached Greece about 6,500BC and probably appeared in Spain soon afterwards, brought by the Greek traders who sailed along the Mediterranean coast. Early farmers in the “fertile crescent”, the area which includes modern Iraq and Iran, selected the wild wheat type that displayed the useful genetic mutation of having non-shattering stalks – so that the grain stayed together rather than being spread all over the ground and impossible to collect. By nurturing the useful mutation, the wheat that was to be spread so widely was developed.
The waving fields of wheat grown by traditional farmers look lush and green after the recent rains and continue an ancient heritage.
***
©Phillip Bruce 2009.
Wheat has been grown in Spain for a very long time and it was a granary in the times of ancient Rome providing food for the Imperial city and elsewhere in the empire.
Wheat has been cultivated since at least around 8,500BC. It reached Greece about 6,500BC and probably appeared in Spain soon afterwards, brought by the Greek traders who sailed along the Mediterranean coast. Early farmers in the “fertile crescent”, the area which includes modern Iraq and Iran, selected the wild wheat type that displayed the useful genetic mutation of having non-shattering stalks – so that the grain stayed together rather than being spread all over the ground and impossible to collect. By nurturing the useful mutation, the wheat that was to be spread so widely was developed.
The waving fields of wheat grown by traditional farmers look lush and green after the recent rains and continue an ancient heritage.
***
©Phillip Bruce 2009.
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