Producing wheat in Brazil, more than an option, a necessity

By Fernando Mendes Lamas, Researcher at Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste

08.06.2018 | 20:59 (UTC -3)

The Brazilian population is approaching 220 million people. This year's grain production, according to estimates by the National Food Company - CONAB, will be 232,6 million tons, which means more than a ton per capita.

When you analyze the global scenario, we are doing well, although we still have potential for growth, especially in productivity. However, we have problems with some basic products used to feed the population, such as wheat.

Brazil consumes around 10 million tons of wheat annually. In the last two harvests, less than 5 million tons were produced. We are a large importer of wheat. This great dependence on production from other countries, especially Mercosur, in times of globalized economy leaves Brazil in a situation of great vulnerability.

At the moment, the price of wheat is on the rise, already exceeding the barrier of US$ 200.00 per ton. As we are going through a moment of rising value of the dollar against the real, the impact is immediate on the price of “French bread”, a staple food for Brazilians.

It is estimated that in Brazil, in the 2017/2018 harvest, 1,9 million hectares will be cultivated with wheat. In Mato Grosso do Sul, where more than 400 thousand hectares have already been cultivated, around 20 thousand hectares should be cultivated.

After the soybean harvest, the largest area is occupied by corn, that is, the soybean-corn succession predominates. From an agronomic point of view, wheat cultivation would be an excellent option for crop rotation. This agricultural practice, when properly planned, helps control pests, diseases, nematodes and weeds, reducing production costs.

The currently predominant agricultural model, soy-corn and in some regions of Brazil soy-cotton, due to its low diversity is a very vulnerable model, putting years and years of work at risk.

In times of a globalized economy, we need to be very attentive not only to what is happening with our “close neighbors” but, mainly, to what is happening in producing countries. The severe drought in Argentina had a major impact on corn and soybean prices. The rise in the price of a barrel of oil is contributing to the rise in cotton prices on the international market, which is providing Brazilian producers with better remuneration when selling their product.

We don't need to think about producing wheat to meet 100% of our demand, but it is necessary to reduce external dependence and in a certain way protect ourselves from the fluctuations that occur around the world, especially in prices, which are closely linked to the issue of supply and demand, in addition to internal problems in producing countries. Argentina produces around 18 million tons annually and consumes 5 million tons of wheat. We are a large buyer of wheat from Argentina.

Inserting wheat into the production system constitutes a great challenge. To achieve this, we must make efforts to continue generating knowledge and transferring it so that Brazilian producers have technologies at their disposal that minimize risks and ensure adequate remuneration. Also, a medium and long-term policy aimed at sustainable wheat production is needed.

In summary, given this scenario, the major advance is to provide security to producers through technology offerings and public policies so that they can cultivate wheat competitively. If we increase our wheat production, the producer and the consumer win, and the country saves currency and improves its trade balance.

 

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