Abitrigo highlights the importance of reducing dependence on wheat imports in Brazil

The Brazilian Wheat Industry Association (Abitrigo) promoted, on June 04th, a video conference to discuss the National Wheat Policy and the figures for the 20/21 grain harvest in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The online event, which brought together representatives from the chain, debated the wheat scenario in the country, highlighting the importance of adopting measures that stimulate grain production, aiming to reduce external dependence.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has made some vulnerabilities in our economy evident and, in the field of food, we can say that wheat is the most latent of them, considering that we are still very dependent on international wheat imports. The situation experienced by us makes clear the difficulty of supplying grain to meet the needs of the national market, as well as purchasing due to the high cost of raw materials”, highlighted the executive president of Abitrigo, Rubens Barbosa, who made the opening of the meeting presenting the points of the National Wheat Policy, developed and presented to the Federal Government by the entity.

Barbosa highlighted points of the proposal that have already been advanced, but highlighted some that require more attention from the Ministry of Agriculture, such as facilitating international regulatory convergence, updating the technical regulation for wheat classification, reevaluating human resources management in official services, promoting regionalization and production specialization, among others.

The Director of MAPA's Marketing and Supply Department, Sílvio Farnese, highlighted that the Ministry closely monitors issues related to wheat in the country, mainly in the field of incentives aimed at producers, aiming to increase domestic production and also in matters that help the market supply, such as the increase in the wheat import quota per year, as well as the dates of the grain purchase windows.

“During this period of quarantine, we became even more certain of the relevance of wheat-derived products for the basic diet of human beings and with this it became even more evident how important the grain is for our country’s economy. We are closely following the harvest forecasts and we are very excited about the numbers, which, in addition to indicating a volume above what was harvested in 2019, will also be of high quality”, stated the MAPA representative. 

The Cerrado and wheat

Farnese also highlighted that, in the eyes of the Ministry, Brazil can have even greater production with the growth of wheat-oriented cultivation areas in the Cerrado, which have available land and are close to the main consumer markets.

The possibility of increasing wheat production in the Central-West region of the country was also highlighted in the participation of Embrapa representative, Osvaldo Vieira. According to him, the evolution recorded in wheat production in these areas was due to the more effective use of technologies in crops.

“We recorded good crops with positive yield prospects. Producers report that the fields do not present Blasone, one of the main problems affecting Cerrado wheat. We are working hard to expand cultivation areas in the region, testing new seeds that meet the needs of the field and at the same time offer the quality demanded by the market”, explained Vieira.

20/21 Harvest

According to Conab, which also participated in the event with the presence of market analyst, Flávia Machado Starling Soares, the estimate for this year, according to the review carried out by the entity in May, is that Brazil will have a production volume above 5,4 million tons, with growth of 2,4% in the total production area and 3% in productivity.

The meeting also included the presentation of an overview of grain production in each state. Representing the Cerrado, Eduardo Elias Abrahim, president of the Minas Gerais State Wheat Growers Association (ATRIEMG), highlighted the good weather conditions in the region, which could help with the positive numbers expected for the wheat harvest, which could reach 100 thousand tons .

For the director of agricultural market operations at Castrolanda, José Reinaldo Oliveira, who spoke for the state of São Paulo, the weather was an impact factor at the beginning of planting, but, even with this challenge, producers expect to harvest around 290 thousand tons and register a larger cultivation area than the previous year.

The figures for Paraná, a state that represents more than 50% of the national harvest, were presented by the Technical and Economic Manager of the Organization of Cooperatives of the State of Paraná (Ocepar), Flávio Turra, who highlighted a delay in planting due to lack of rain. According to him, the estimate is that the state will harvest 3,5 million tons this year, a volume higher than the previous harvest.

Rio Grande do Sul recorded favorable weather conditions for wheat planting, with the presence of rain and expects to harvest 2 million tons, a crop good in quality and yield, according to the market analyst at Serra Morena Commodities, Walter Von Mühlen, who represented the state at the meeting.

Representatives from Uruguay and Paraguay also participated, who highlighted the importance of Brazil as a destination for their wheat exports and the continuous work with producers to improve the quality and productivity of the grain.

Ruben Zoz, from Unicoop Paraguay, reported that the country expects to harvest a harvest of approximately 1,1 tons of wheat. Uruguay, which was represented by Catalina Rava, from MGA, expects a total of 736 thousand tons.