Bread wheat, godhumai in Tamil and gehun in Hindi, is the grain of roti, chapati, paratha and bread. It arose about ten thousand years ago when cultivated emmer wheat crossed naturally with a wild goat grass near the Caspian Sea. India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The semi-dwarf wheats of the 1960s Green Revolution transformed Indian harvests.
- Botanical name
- Triticum aestivum L.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Tamil
- Godhumai
- Hindi
- Gehun
- Sanskrit
- Godhūma
- Parts used
- Grain after milling and cooking
- Habit
- Bread wheat; not rice and not a children’s raw binge of dry grain
- Last updated
- 2026-10-27
How to recognise Godhumai
It is an annual grass, usually knee- to waist-high, with flat leaves and hollow stems.
The ear is a spike of spikelets set alternately on a zigzag central stalk, with or without long bristles called awns.
Each spikelet holds two to five grains, which thresh free from their husks.
The grain is oval, with a deep groove down one side and a tuft of hairs at the tip.
Barley has long-awned spikes with three spikelets at each joint and grains that usually stay in their husks.
Traditional use of Godhumai
Kitchen
Whole-wheat atta is kneaded into roti and paratha, while sooji or rava goes into upma and halwa, and dalia is cooked as porridge.
Indian food practice
Farming
In North India wheat is a rabi crop, sown in November after the rice harvest and cut in April.
North Indian farm practice
Festival
Baisakhi in Punjab marks the wheat harvest in mid-April.
Punjabi festival practice
Modern notes on Godhumai
Bread wheat carries three sets of chromosomes from three ancestral grasses, which gives it large genetic variety.
Gluten, formed from the proteins gliadin and glutenin when flour meets water, makes dough stretchy and lets bread rise.
Mexican semi-dwarf wheats bred by Norman Borlaug and adapted by M. S. Swaminathan’s team helped India double its wheat harvest within a few years in the late 1960s.
Burning of rice stubble before wheat sowing in Punjab and Haryana contributes to winter smog in Delhi.
Godhumai safety
People with coeliac disease must avoid wheat completely, and some people have wheat allergy. Whole-wheat atta keeps more fibre than refined maida.
Ecology and sourcing
Its ancestors grew wild in the Fertile Crescent of West Asia.
It is mostly self-pollinating and wind-pollinated.
Rising spring temperatures during grain filling can cut yields in northern India.
Related plants
Also in Poaceae
Questions about Godhumai
What is the difference between atta and maida?
Atta is whole-wheat flour; maida is refined white flour.
Is wheat gluten-free?
No. Wheat contains gluten.
When is wheat harvested in India?
Mostly in March and April.
Is durum wheat the same?
No. Durum is Triticum durum, used for pasta and some sooji.
What is dalia?
Cracked wheat, cooked as porridge or khichdi.
Sources
- Triticum aestivum L. — Plants of the World Online, Kew (search) (accessed 2026)
- Wikidata item Q161098 (Triticum aestivum)
Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.