Breadbasket

The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain.

With the European commercial penetration in the second half of the 19th century, Morocco started to export wheat to Europe despite the objection of the ulama (religious establishment).

After Morocco's independence, agriculture in Doukkala became geared toward irrigation so less area has been devoted to wheat, whereas Chaouia maintained its status as a major wheat-producing region thanks to its dark soil called tirs and relatively abundant rainfall (avg.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, further migration and population growth ensued during the latter half of the 20th century, and industrial farming is practiced extensively over the region's fertile black soil, turning the Northeast into the "Great Northern Granary" (北大仓) that produce many times the crop yields needed for local consumption.

In 1826, Alexandre de Laborde comments: «Andalusia is so abundant in wheat that it is rightly called "the breadbasket of Spain," in terms of harvesting twice as much as its consumption.

The autonomous community of Castile and León has also been considered the breadbasket of Spain, since large quantities of cereals are grown on its lands, mainly in addition to vineyards and legumes.

In the United States, an important region is the Corn Belt, where maize and soybeans are major crops, which generally extends from the Great Lakes south through Missouri.

[51] The Palouse region of Eastern Washington state is often referred to as the Breadbasket of the Pacific Northwest, due to its high production of cereal wheat and lentils.

[54] Grapes—table, raisin, and, to a lesser extent, wine—are perhaps the valley's highest-profile product, but equally (if not more) important are cotton, nuts (especially almonds and pistachios), citrus, and vegetables.

The country also has a significant presence as producer and exporter of rice, wheat, eggs, cocoa, beans, nuts, and diverse fruits and vegetables.

[57] The Murray-Darling Basin is seen as Australia's breadbasket, being the source of 40% of the nation's agricultural income, a third of the wheat harvest, 95 percent of the rice crop and other products such as fruit, wine and cotton.