Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports the top 10 fruit and vegetable products by weight in 2005.
Not all fruits and vegetables on our lists below make great exports or imports.
The reason? Some of these products have comparatively short shelf lives, and would spoil during long trans-Atlantic delivery routes.
Also, the cost of shipping vast quantities of the heavier fruits and vegetables would be prohibitive.
Still it's interesting to consider the leading food crops from around the world.
Top 10 Fruit Crops
- Tomatoes ... 124.7 million tonnes (production, 2005)
- Watermelons ... 95.3 million tonnes
- Bananas ... 72.4 million tonnes
- Grapes ... 66.5 million tonnes
- Apples ... 63.5 million tonnes
- Oranges ... 59.9 million tonnes
- Coconuts ... 55 million tonnes
- Plantains ... 33.4 million tonnes
- Cantaloupes & other melons ... 28.3 million tonnes
- Mangoes ... 28 million tonnes
Top 10 Vegetable Crops
- Sugar cane ... 1.3 billion tonnes (production, 2005)
- Potatoes ... 322 million tonnes
- Sugar beets ... 242 million tonnes
- Soybeans ... 209.5 million tonnes
- Sweet potatoes ... 129.9 million tonnes
- Cabbages ... 69.5 million tonnes
- Dry onions ... 57.6 million tonnes
- Cucumbers & pickles ... 41.7 million tonnes
- Yams ... 39.9 million tonnes
- Eggplants ... 30.5 million tonnes
And yes, tomatoes are considered fruits and technically sugar cane is a vegetable. Just don't ask me how to pronounce the word tomato.
