摘要
In the frame of the present study,we examined the wheat sector with respect to economic and social sustainability.Accordingly,two research questions were formulated:(1)Is wheat production sustainable in economic terms?and(2)Is wheat production sustainable in social terms?Our view is that the content of sustainability can be defined on a case-by-case basis,and in our case,wheat production provides this content.To answer the research questions,we collected statistical data on the production area,average yield,production volume,selling price,consumption of wheat,and evaluated the tendencies prevalent in the sector.We suppose that in social terms,sustainability means maintaining consumption at least at a constant level,knowing that this sector produces considerable share of the direct and indirect food raw materials.A chief dilemma is that world population is continuously growing,although the size of the cultivated area in the wheat sector has not indicated significant changes over the past few decades.Unless increasing the yields,severe decrease may occur in the per capita production of wheat in the long run.In this case,the current consumption level will not be sustainable in the medium run.In addition,in the long run,it may even have influence on the consumption level of other commodities.
