Cold Chain Quickie #26- Where Do India’s Food Crops Actually Come From?

Today I was having a homemade meal consisting of Aloo mutter, Bhindi masala and Rajma with Roti. This, for many, is considered as the most satisfying and delicious Indian dishes out there. But are they even Indian? That’s the question that struck in our mind while we were indulging in some Rajma roti.

We came across an article which answered that question. Kidney beans (Rajma) is not Indian and infact of Mexican origin. Roti, which is eaten in every meal by us, is made by wheat which has originated from West Asia. Similary, potatoes, onions and tomatoes which form majority of our dishes too aren’t of Indian origin.

Nagpur is famous for its Oranges, Mahableshwar for its strawberries and Himachal Pradesh for its Apples. But did you know these crops too aren’t actually native to India? They have actually originated from South East Asia, North America and Europe respectively.

The below info graphic displays the quantity of national agricultural production that consists of crops native to other foreign countries. Scale is degree of foreign crop use (1 = 100% use of foreign crops). For e.g. – India, which has a rich diversity of indigenous crops, produces approximately 20% foreign crops for its consumption. Whereas, in countries like USA and Canada as much as 90% of the nation’s agriculture produce has originated from another country.