Buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum

Buckwheat is a wonderful food that comes from a mysterious plant. It looks like a grain, but it really isn't, the plant is also not a grass. As a matter of fact it's a relative of a rhubarb. Buckwheat is a native of south-east Asia and has been domesticated since 6000 BC. By 4000 BC, buckwheat was grown as far as Japan and Balkans.
In 2009,  1 416 848+ tons of buckwheat were produced. Biggest producer is Russia with 564 040 tons. Biggest producer per capita is Lithuania with 4.52 kg  produced. Globally, only  206 grams of buckwheat  were available per potential consumer.  World crop could feed  6 658 000 people at 2000 calories a day or countries like Libya and Aruba combined. There is enough protein for 10.3 million people at 50g/day.
2 066 104 hectares of land were under  Buckwheat production in 2009, a territory slightly smaller than El Salvador or New Jersey. It is barely  over 0.13% of all arable land in the world.


List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html


At the moment, Buckwheat is sold for $500 to $1200 a ton. I pay $2.2-2.5 per pound of buckwheat  in retail. The value of the world crop is about $950-1000 million.
Producers,    2009, metric tons:
1. Russia      564 040
2. China       200 000
3. Ukraine   188 600
4.France      114 500
5.USA           83 000
6.Poland        81 226
7.Kazakhstan 62000
8.Brazil          52000

I highly recommend this food to everybody.
A 1995 study from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute had solid results showing that eating  just 30 grams of buckwheat daily can lower  your blood pressure.Eat buckwheat and you will live longer.

Production by country,                             2007                      2008                     2009

Austria	Buckwheat	0	F	0	F		M
Belarus	Buckwheat	12997		18016		19430
Bhutan	Buckwheat	8105		8105	F		M
Brazil	Buckwheat	52000		52000	F		M
Bulgaria	Buckwheat		M		M		M
Canada	Buckwheat	2300		2300	F		M
China	Buckwheat	400000		250000		200000
Croatia	Buckwheat	350	*	200	*	300	*
Czech Republic	Buckwheat	2000	F	2000	F		M
Estonia	Buckwheat	337		200		91
France	Buckwheat	117148		98000		114500
Georgia	Buckwheat	100	*		M		M
Greece	Buckwheat		M		M		M
Hungary	Buckwheat	472		335		235
Ireland	Buckwheat		M		M		M
Japan	Buckwheat	26300		23200		15300
Kazakhstan	Buckwheat	81400		16570		62000
Kyrgyzstan	Buckwheat	195		131		48
Latvia	Buckwheat	11100		7100		4800
Lithuania	Buckwheat	20900		20900		14700
Poland	Buckwheat	84236		68726		81226
Republic of Korea	Buckwheat	2447		2545			M
Republic of Moldova	Buckwheat	437		483		300	*
Russian Federation	Buckwheat	1004433		924110		564040
Slovakia	Buckwheat	150		87		84
Slovenia	Buckwheat	761		733		944
South Africa	Buckwheat	300	F	300	F		M
Tajikistan	Buckwheat	0	F	0	F		M
Ukraine	Buckwheat	217400		240600		188600
United States of America	Buckwheat	68000	F	83000	F	83000	F
Uzbekistan	Buckwheat		M		M		M
World + (Total)	Buckwheat	2113868	A	1819641	A	1416848	A

My usual sources are fao.org, usda.gov, cia.gov, alibaba.com.
 Thank you for visiting my site