PRODUCTION AND TRADE
World wheat production increased dramatically during the period 1951-1990, although the expansion of the area sown to wheat has long ceased to be a major source of increased wheat output (CIMMYT, 1996) (Figure 1.1). Production reached an all time high of 592 million tonnes in 1990 and has been 500 million tonnes or above since 1986 when 529 million tonnes was produced. Since 1990, production has remained relatively constant. The share of wheat output from high-income countries has fallen from about 45 percent in the early 1950s to about 35 percent in recent years. Policy changes toward crop reserve programmes to preserve soils have taken considerable production area from wheat in high-income countries. In the past five years, developing countries have produced more than 45 percent of the world’s wheat.