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Plants & Farming

Since the first person collected the seeds of wild grasses and planted them on prepared ground about 10,000 years ago, farming has not only been dependent on plants, but has also changed them to suit man’s needs.

Barley was one of the first wild grains to be domesticated, though today it is mainly used for animal food.

Wheat is the staple diet of millions of people, and its cultivation was central to the formation of Western civilisation, while further east in Asia, rice has always been the staple carbohydrate. And although maize originated exclusively in Mexico, it is now the third most planted crop worldwide after wheat and rice.

Plants feed animals as well as humans. Grass is an essential for livestock farmers, so even when we eat meat, we’re relying on plants.

Lately, certain plants have even changed the British landscape. Whether you love it or hate it, you know it must be early summer when much of the land is covered by a blanket of yellow oilseed rape flowers.

Farming is also central to the ‘genetically modified’ (GM) debate, as scientists and farmers try to find innovative ways of growing food for a growing population.

See the top 10 plants that we think have made the biggest difference to this category.