4Countries are the most food-producing in the world.. Get to know them
China's agricultural production is $1.56 trillion, of which $1.5 trillion is food annually (Getty)
In the midst of the food crisis that the world is experiencing today, affected by the Ukrainian war, economic recession and the collapse of many economies, China , India, the United States and Brazil still top the list of the most food-producing countries in the world.
It is noteworthy that these countries share advantages related to their large population, large land area, and climatic zones suitable for growing a variety of crops, according to the investment encyclopedia "Investopedia", which sought to highlight the agricultural strengths and weaknesses of each of these food-producing countries.
1 - China
China was by far the world's leading agricultural producer with an estimated annual production in 2020 of $1.56 trillion, of which $1.5 trillion is food, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Agricultural production includes both food and non-food products. Examples of non-food agricultural commodities include silk, rubber, wool, cotton and tobacco.
The main factor was China's position as the world's most populous country with 1.45 billion people as of 2022, just ahead of India with 1.41 billion.
China has only 10% of the world's arable land, yet it produces a quarter of global grain production and leads the planet in the production of cereals, cotton, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs and fish products, according to the FAO.
While most of China's land is too mountainous or too barren for cultivation, the rich soils of its eastern and southern regions are highly productive.
China also has one of the largest pools of agricultural labor in the world. Although the percentage of workers in food production has steadily decreased, agricultural work still represents 25% of national employment, according to 2019 figures.
Despite the growth of agricultural production in China, it was reported that it moved from complete self-sufficiency in food production as of 2000 to relying on imports for more than 23% of its food needs by 2020, as a result of declining soybean production, increasing grain imports, and continuing land loss. Agricultural, industrial and urban development.
In 2019, China overtook the United States and the European Union to become the world's number one importer of agricultural products, with imports amounting to $133.1 billion. Import growth was driven by land-intensive crops such as soybeans, sorghum and cotton, as well as meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables as a result of increased consumer demand.
2 - India
It is the second most populous country in the world, and had the second highest agricultural production, with a value of 403.5 billion dollars in 2020, of which 382.2 billion dollars is the value of food production.
India is also the world's largest producer of milk, jute and pulses (a category that includes dry beans, lentils and chickpeas), and is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, cotton and peanuts.
Although it has achieved self-sufficiency in grain production, India remains highly dependent on "subsistence agriculture" as the poorest country on this list on a per capita basis.
This has resulted in inefficient use of limited resources, especially water, making production dependent on the monsoons and yielding crops below the world average. Deficiencies in infrastructure and product distribution systems have resulted in post-harvest losses of up to 40% for some crops.
But despite these obstacles, India remains the world's largest exporter of refined sugar and milled rice. Strong exports of rice, cotton, soybeans and meat helped India climb to the ninth place among global agricultural exporters in 2019.
3 - United States
The United States ranked third in agricultural production for 2020 with a value of $307.4 billion, of which $306.4 billion was food, despite employing a small portion of the agricultural workforce in China or India.
Corn, soybeans, dairy products, wheat, and sugarcane were among the top five most valuable US agricultural commodities in the year cited. Yields and production of cereal crops continued to rise despite the significant decrease in cultivated areas in recent decades.
The United States was by far the largest global agricultural exporter in 2020, with exports worth $147.9 billion. In 2021, that value of exports soared to a record $177 billion, driven by a 25% increase in exports to China to $33 billion.
Canada, Mexico and Japan are also among the major importers of US agricultural products. California accounted for 13.5% of agricultural production in the United States in 2020, about double that of any other state, with dairy, almonds and grapes.
Other major agricultural producers include Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Kansas, Minnesota, and Illinois.
After contracting in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, prices of key agricultural commodities rebounded in 2021, then rose to record levels in early 2022, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine put supplies from two major grain exporters at risk.
4 - Brazil
Brazil ranked fourth among agricultural producers in the world in 2020, with a production of 135.8 billion dollars, of which 125.3 billion dollars is food production. The value of agricultural exports, amounting to $85.2 billion in 2020, ranked third after the United States and the Netherlands.
The Brazilian economy has historically focused on agriculture, especially sugar cane. The proportion of the labor force working in agriculture has steadily declined over the past three decades, from 20% in 1991 to 9% by 2019.
Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans, raw sugar and poultry. Its soybean exports of $28.6 billion in 2020 were the largest for an agricultural commodity from a single country.
China imported more than $30 billion in Brazilian agricultural exports that year, 9 times the second largest importer.
What countries produce the most food waste?
Unfortunately, many countries contribute to food waste. According to a 2021 UN study, the United States throws away an estimated 21.3 million tons of food each year.
The United Kingdom wastes more than 5.7 million tons of food each year, while China wastes more than 100 million tons annually, and it is estimated that in 2019, there was more than one billion tons of food waste.
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