Breadbasket

This article is about the cultural/political concept. For other uses, see Basket (disambiguation).

The breadbasket or the granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil and/or advantageous climate, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice bowl is a similar term used in Southeast Asia. Such regions may be the subject of fierce political disputes which may even escalate into full military conflicts.

Classical antiquity

Sicily and Africa were considered the breadbaskets of the Roman Republic. Later on Egypt was considered the breadbasket of the Roman Empire.

Africa

Morocco

The Chaouia plain south of Casablanca has historically been the breadbasket of Morocco thanks to its fertile soil called Tirs and relatively abundant rainfall (avg. 400 mm/year).

South Africa

The Free State province is often considered the "Breadbasket" of South Africa due to its endless wheat, sunflower and maize fields.

The Overberg region in the Western Cape is also known as the "Breadbasket" of South Africa due to its large wheat fields, as well as fruit growing.

Asia

India

The Punjab and Haryana regions are considered the breadbasket of India. Andhra Pradesh is said to be the "rice bowl" for South India.

Rice Bowl in Southeast Asia

Thailand

The delta of Chao Phraya in Thailand as well as the plains of Java of Indonesia are considered the rice bowls of the region. The same could be applied to the delta of the Mekong in Vietnam.

Myanmar/Burma

The Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar used to be one of the most important source of rice in the region until its production declined due to various reasons, including its unstable political situation.

Europe

Portugal

Around the 1970s, Alentejo was considered the breadbasket of Portugal.

Romania

In the 19th century Romania was considered part of Europe's breadbasket.

Russia

During Tsarist times the Ukrainian provinces of the Russian Empire were referred to as the Empire's breadbasket.^{[citation needed]} During the Soviet era, the mantle passed to the Ukrainian SSR.

There is also the Central Black Earth Region within Russia proper.

North America

North America's Great Plains are a common breadbasket shared between Canada and the United States.

Canada

In Canada the grain-growing areas are also called the Canadian prairies. Sometimes the province of Saskatchewan also known for producing a huge supplement of potash is further singled out from within this region as the main "Breadbasket" of Canada .

United States

the United States Corn Belt

In the US, this region is called the Corn Belt, or (occasionally) the "Grain Belt".

Studies on regionalism

The Corn Belt also shares some cultural and political traits which lead the authors of two books on regionalism in North America to argue that they form a separate "nation."

In the book Nine Nations of North America, author Joel Garreau identifies the "Breadbasket" as one of nine cultural "nations" in North America. The Kansas City Metropolitan Area would have served as the "capital" of this region.

In the book The Day America Told The Truth by James Patterson and Peter Kim, this region is called the Granary instead, but its boundaries are essentially the same as those Garreau drew for the Breadbasket.

Both books include western Indiana, northern and central Illinois except for the immediate Chicago metropolitan area, Wisconsin except for the Lake Michigan shoreline, the northern half of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the states of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas in their entirety, the easternmost tier of counties in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico, the northern and western portions of Missouri and Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle.

Oceania

Australia

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% of the rice crop and other products such as fruit, wine and cotton.

New Zealand

When New Zealand became a British colony, the fertile lands produced food that would be shipped back to England, causing New Zealand to become colloquially known (occasionally along with Australia) as 'Britain's Breadbasket', subsequently leading to the Dunedin being the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat, she was refitted with a refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.