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The Top 5 Crops Produced in the World
| Crop | Metric Tonnes Produced | Largest Consumer (metric tonnes consumed) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sugar Cane | 1.9 billion m/t | India (25.5 million m/t) |
| 2 | Maiz | 1.1 billion m/t | United States (312 million m/t) |
| 3 | Rice | 782 million m/t | China (142 million m/t) |
| 4 | Wheat | 734 million m/t | China (148 million m/t) |
| 5 | Potatoes | 368 million m/t | China (65.5 million m/t) |
Special Report
Sugar, The Most Grown and the Most Controversial Crop In The World
Ok, so technically sugar is not a crop, but what we make sugar out of is a crop, and that crop is called "sugar cane". Sugar is made out of the juice of the cane and humans have been making sugar out of it for at least two or three thousand years and possibly for much longer. The country that produces the most sugar cane in the world is Brazil .
You're probably wondering why sugar cane is so controversial; the controversy stems from the fact that the whole sugar cane plantation system of growing crops was based on the use of human slavery and slave plantation farming allowed the industrial growing and harvesting of sugar cane on a large economic scale. Before slavery was introduced as a means of production, sugar was mostly a luxury product for the elites of Europe.
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Tags:
Farming & Agriculture Statistics, Crops, Food & Drink
Sources: FAOSTAT data, 2021.
List Notes: Data is the top 5 crops produced in the world in metric tonnes (m/t) for the year 2019 (latest year for which statistics are available as of the year 2021).
Sources: FAOSTAT data, 2021.
List Notes: Data is the top 5 crops produced in the world in metric tonnes (m/t) for the year 2019 (latest year for which statistics are available as of the year 2021).
