Cultivating Wheat in the Philippines, ca. 1600–1800 CE: Why a Grain Was Not Adopted by Local Populations

Abstract

Studying why newly introduced cultivars fail to make inroads with local populations is notoriously difficult, as these “rejected” crops often leave little or no physical evidence. Taking advantage of unusually ample historical documentation, this paper studies wheat’s introduction, dispersal, and sporadic cultivation in the Philippine archipelago, with an emphasis on the period between 1640 and 1670 CE when sustained wheat cultivation began near Manila. Using documents and comparisons to other cultivars imported during the Pacific Columbian Exchange, the paper identifies several independent barriers to wheat’s cultivation, all of which aligned to ensure wheat was never widely farmed by local populations.