Lentils are one of the oldest human-cultivated crops, having been domesticated in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East circa 8000 BC. Since then, they've been in steady use in various communities, and their use is widespread in both developed and developing countries. India, Canada, Turkey, the United States, Nepal, Australia, Syria, China, Bangladesh, and Iran are the top lentil-producing countries. Lentil is a key rotation crop in cereal-based farming systems in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Lentil production in the United States was first focused in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
