Origin of rye

The precise origin of rye domestication is unknown, but it was being cultivated at several locations in the Eastern Turkey and Armenia by 6000 BC.

The earliest sign of rye, associated with agriculture comes from central Anatolia. Rye is a typical ‘secondary crop’: it was primarily a weed in wheat and barley fields, later adopted as a crop.

Rye arrived in Europe through the Aegean Basin and the south Balkan as a cultivated crop by 4000 BC. Probably a cultivated crop in the Early Iron Age, is found in Roman Britain in both the highland and lowland zones, but not with great frequency.

Because of its tough constitution, it may have performed better than wheat and barley in the cooler, nutrient poor northern climates and therefore attracted human attraction.

It spread in the Roman Empire was a late phenomenon.

In Sweden, the cultivation of rye increased in the Middle Ages, partly because it was favored by the Church and the Crown. However, it was restricted to the provinces Lake Malaren and the adjoining regions to the south east.

In modern times, tetraploid and hexaploid wheat have been artificially hybridized with rye to form the new crop called Triticale.
Origin of rye