Plants that feed the world

There are over 250,000 plant species on earth. But there are only a small
handful which feed the world these are:

Wheat	Maize	Rice

Potatoes	Bananas	Pulses

All these produce starch, helping to provide energy and nutrition.

• Wheat takes up more of the world's surface than any other crop.
  Since the ‘Green Revolution', the breeding programme of the 1960s
  and 70s, wheat yields have increased around 15-fold.

• Maize is currently number one, in yield terms, eaten by people and
  their animals worldwide.
  
  
• Rice is grown in 113 countries and all continents except Antarctica.
  Over 90% is grown in the developing world and it feeds about half the world's population.
  
  
• Potatoes, originally from the Andes, are now grown from the
  temperate to the tropical regions and produce large yields faster than most of the cereals.