@zhouhouhaia45

What is it about wheat and rice that has the ability to sustain billions of human lives across various civilizations throughout history? When wheat was first cultivated in the middle east, the head contained a pathetic eight seeds. However, thanks to random mutations, 16 seed varieties soon appeared, followed soon after that by 32 seed varieties. Unfortunately, unlike corn/maize, we’ve been unable to get it past that since (you get about 400 corn seeds from 1 corn seed). That 32–1 ratio meant it was far more efficient to keep 1/32nd of your crop (or thereabouts) and plant it again the following year. Wheat also does well in places that get intermittent rain (like the Canadian prairies, the U.S. Great Plains, and Ukraine) - it can withstand a very long dry spell and still thrive.

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