Table 2.
Comparison of land area (million ha, or Mha) sown to major cereals or grain legumes in different geographic regions, and the percentage of the total area used for cereal and legume production under grain legumes in 2019a.
| Region | Wheat | Rice | Maize | Total 3 cereals | Legume oilseedsb | Pulse legumesc | Total grain legumes | % Area legumesd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | 34.6 | 5.7 | 71.7 | 112.0 | 92.7 | 11.6 | 104.3 | |
| South America | 9.3 | 4.1 | 28.2 | 41.6 | 59.5 | 3.9 | 63.4 | 60 |
| North America | 24.7 | 1.0 | 34.5 | 60.2 | 33.2 | 4.7 | 37.8 | 39 |
| Asia | 98.6 | 138.6 | 66.5 | 303.7 | 32.1 | 43.7 | 75.8 | |
| South Asia | 49.4 | 61.4 | 12.2 | 123.0 | 16.1 | 33.6 | 49.7 | 29 |
| East Asia | 24.3 | 32.7 | 41.9 | 98.9 | 13.3 | 3.1 | 16.4 | 14 |
| South-East Asia | 0.06 | 43.9 | 11.2 | 55.2 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 7.6 | 12 |
| West Asia | 10.7 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 11.8 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 11 |
| Central Asia | 14.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 14.8 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 5 |
| Africa | 9.7 | 17.1 | 41.2 | 68.0 | 19.6 | 27.3 | 46.9 | 41 |
| Europe | 62.3 | 0.6 | 18.3 | 81.2 | 5.6 | 4.9 | 10.5 | 11 |
| Oceania/Australia | 10.4 | 0.02 | 0.1 | 10.5 | 0.05 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 25 |
| World (Mha) | 215.6 | 162.0 | 197.8 | 575.4 | 150.1 | 90.9 | 240.6 |
a
Data obtained from FAOSTAT (2021) and presented in declining regional areas sown to grain legumes.
b
Soybean and groundnut.
c
All other legume crops grown for dry grain.
d
% area under legume crops = 100× (area total grain legumes)/ (area total grain legumes)+ (area of wheat+rice+maize).