Wheat (
Triticum spp.) is a
cereal grain, originally from the
Levant region of the
Near East but now cultivated worldwide. In 2013, world production of wheat was 713 million tons, making it the third most-produced
cereal after
maize (1,016 million tons) and
rice (745 million tons). Wheat was the second most-produced cereal in 2009; world production in that year was 682 million tons, after maize (817 million tons), and with rice as a close third (679 million tons).