Wheat is one of the main foods of human beings and belongs to Gramineae. The cultivation history of wheat in China is as long as that of other major food crops. According to the investigation, there are traces of wheat marks on the stew soil of the primitive social site of Miaodigou, Dongguan, Xia County, Henan Province, about 7000 years ago. 1955, Anhui Provincial Museum found a large number of carbonized common wheat seeds at the Neolithic site in Diaoyutai, Bo County, this province, about 5000 years ago. Archaeologists in Qinghai province found that wheat grains were preserved in the site of Nuomuhong. More than 3,000 years ago, wheat ears were found in Haimenkou site in Jianchuan County, Yunnan Province, which was equivalent to the Yin and Shang Dynasties in mainland China. There are wheat hieroglyphics on Oracle bones unearthed from Xiaotun Village site in Anyang County, Henan Province. Therefore, ordinary wheat was planted on a large scale about 4000 years ago, not only in the Yellow River basin, but also in the Huaihe River basin and parts of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Later, more ancient documents recorded wheat, such as Xia, Shijing, Shangshu and Chunqiu.

According to the different natural conditions, cultivation systems and varieties, China's wheat natural division is divided into eight wheat areas, namely: ① late-maturing winter wheat areas in the north; ② Middle-maturing winter wheat area in North China Plain; ③ Late-maturing winter wheat area in southern Xinjiang; ④ Early-middle-maturing winter wheat areas in the Yangtze River basin; ⑤ Early-maturing winter wheat area in Sichuan; ⑥ Early-maturing winter wheat area in southern China; ⑦ Northeast spring wheat area; Finally arrived in the northern spring wheat area.

Since 1956, the Ministry of Agriculture of China has collected and obtained more than 50,000 local original variety seeds and their basic data from more than 2,000 counties in China, and basically preserved all wheat resources in China. Through two to three years of planting experiments and systematic observation and identification, it is clear that the local varieties planted in China at this stage belong to five species respectively, of which the number of varieties belonging to common wheat accounts for 97% of the total number of collected varieties, and the number of varieties belonging to common wheat reaches 67, which is rare in the world. Yunnan wheat, a common wheat subspecies endemic to China, was discovered and named. Common wheat 1 1 variety, cone wheat 1 variety.

In the distribution of wheat varieties, it is obvious that the planting range of common wheat is extensive, while other wheat has different degrees of limitations. In all regions, Yunnan and Xinjiang have the largest variety of wheat, although the area planted with wheat is not large. Yunnan, in particular, has the most common wheat species and varieties in China, including endemic subspecies and varieties, which is the center of genetic diversity of wheat in China and a rare natural wheat gene bank in the world.

In the study of wheat characteristics, the inherent valuable characteristics of ordinary wheat in China are summarized: early maturity, more flowers and more grains, and high tolerance to abnormal environmental conditions. These genetic resources with special breeding value are the best in the world wheat resources.

According to the observation of all materials and the results of variety test, the regional distribution law of basic wheat characters in China was clarified, and then the comprehensive characteristics, natural environment and farming conditions of various varieties were deeply analyzed. Thousands of varieties in China were divided into 14 ecological types, and accordingly the whole country was divided into 14 ecological regions. Later, it was further summarized as 10 ecological type and 10 ecological region. This ecological classification is the first time in China, which corrects the previous plan of zoning some wheat regions according to individual characters and clarifies the general concept that some foreign scholars regard the whole China wheat region as the world wheat region.

Through the above investigation and study, the situation of China's wheat resources was found out in time, which filled the gap of China, an important part of the world's wheat basic science, and laid the foundation for the related theoretical research of China's wheat breeding, introduction and classification, division, germplasm resources evaluation and so on.