the Symposium on Wheats for More Tropical Environments - cimmyt

72Production Constraints and Research Prioritiesin <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Winter Wheat Region of ChinaC.F. Zhou. Institute of Food Crops. Jiangsu Academy ofAgricultural Sciences. Nanjing. Jiangsu. ChinaWheat has been cultivated in China formore than 4.000 years. and it is grownin almost all parts of <strong>the</strong> country.According to natural environmentalconditions. cropping systems andvarietal distribution. <strong>the</strong> wheat-growingareas are broadly classified into threemajor production regions. including <strong>the</strong>nor<strong>the</strong>rn winter wheat region. <strong>the</strong>sou<strong>the</strong>rn winter wheat region and <strong>the</strong>spring wheat region (5.6). These aresubdivided into ten different ecologicalregions to better define <strong>the</strong> varietal typeneeded for successful wheat production(Figure 1).Wheat Production in <strong>the</strong>Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Winter Wheat RegionThe sou<strong>the</strong>rn winter wheat region ofChina is situated to <strong>the</strong> south of <strong>the</strong>Huai River and Qinling Mountains. andcovers three ecological regions. <strong>the</strong> midlowerYangtze Valley winter wheatregion. <strong>the</strong> southwest winter wheatregion and <strong>the</strong> South China winterwheat region (regions 3, 4 and 5,Figure 1).1. North Chinawinter wheatregion2. Yellow-Dual 9River winterwheat region3. Mid-lowerYangtze ValleywiDter wheat region.4. Southwest wiDter wheat region5. South ChiDa wiDter wheat region6. Nor<strong>the</strong>ast spring wheat region7. North ChiDa spriDg wheat region8. Northwest spring wheat region9. Qing-zang spring-winter wheat region10. Xinjiang winter-spring wheat regi~nFigure 1. Wheat-growing areas in ChiDa. 1983Source: Chinese Wheat Cultivars and <strong>the</strong>ir Pedigrees, S.B. Jin, ed. 1983.Agriculture Press. Peking, China.