Lettuce - Production

Production

Lettuce is the only member of the Lactuca genus to be grown commercially. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that world production of lettuce and chicory (the two plants being combined by the FAO for reporting purposes) for calendar year 2010 was 23,622,366 metric tons (23,249,287 long tons; 26,039,201 short tons). This came primarily from China (53 percent), the US (17 percent) and India (4 percent). Although China is the top world producer of lettuce, the majority of the crop is consumed domestically. Spain is the world's largest exporter of lettuce, with the US ranking second.

Western Europe and North America were the original major markets for large-scale lettuce production. By the late 1900s, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa became more substantial markets. Different locations tended to prefer different types of lettuce, with butterhead prevailing in northern Europe and Great Britain, romaine in the Mediterranean and stem lettuce in China and Egypt. By the late 20th century, the preferred types began to change, with crisphead, especially iceberg, lettuce becoming the dominant type in northern Europe and Great Britain and more popular in western Europe. In the US, no one type predominated until the early 20th century, when crisphead lettuces began gaining popularity. After the 1940s, with the development of iceberg lettuce, 95 percent of the lettuce grown and consumed in the US was crisphead lettuce. By the end of the century, other types began to regain popularity and eventually made up over 30 percent of production. Stem lettuce was first developed in China, and remains primarily cultivated in that country.

Lettuce production methods, including all of the processes from growing to sales, have become much larger in scale during the 20th century. The majority of agricultural production is done with the application of large amounts of chemicals, including fertilizers and pesticides, but organic production makes up a growing percentage of the market – a trend that began with small growers but moved to a more industrial scale. More non-heading types, mostly leaf and romaine lettuces, are also being grown. In the first years of the 21st century, bagged salad products began to hold a growing portion of the lettuce market, especially in the US. Processed from what was previously waste lettuce not considered acceptable for the fresh market, these products are packaged in a manner that makes them last longer than standard head lettuce after harvest. As of 2007, 70 percent of the lettuce production in the US came from California; in that country it ranks third in produce consumption behind tomatoes and oranges.