Area planted with wheat in Bahia could reach 20 thousand hectares in the coming years

With the potential to expand the planted area to at least 20 thousand hectares in the coming years with the use of management technologies and current varieties, triticulture in Western Bahia can contribute to Brazil's quest for self-sufficiency in cereals. Of the approximately 12,5 million tons consumed domestically, only 6,81 million tons are expected to be produced in the country in 2020, according to an estimate from the National Supply Company (Conab). 

Western Bahia is part of Matopiba, today's large national agricultural frontier that integrates the Cerrado of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, being responsible for a large part of the national production of grains such as soybeans and corn, and fibers such as cotton. 

In the region, wheat is planted in an irrigated system, in rotation with soybeans, corn or cotton under pivot, crops aimed at producing seeds or feathers, respectively. In these systems, wheat works by breaking cycles of pests and diseases, in addition to reducing weed infestation and leaving, after harvest, good quality straw. Wheat in a rainfed system, despite being occasionally tested by some producers, is practically not cultivated due to the greater risk represented by the region's sandy soils, which have a lower water retention capacity. 

Conab estimates indicate that the area planted with wheat in Bahia this year – almost all of it in the West region – is still small, around 3 thousand hectares, but researchers believe it could quickly reach 20 thousand hectares in the coming years. Estimated production for 2020 is around 17 thousand tons, equivalent to an average productivity of 5,66 tons/ha (or 94,4 sc/ha), well above the national average of 2,9 tons/ha (or 48,3 sc/ha) projected for the year. “But there are producers who produce up to 7 tons/ha (116,6 sc/ha) following management recommendations and planting more modern varieties”, points out researcher Julio Albrecht, from Embrapa Cerrados (DF). 

He recalls that Embrapa has been working with wheat in the region since the mid-1980s, with the planting of value of cultivation and use (VCU) trials in producer areas. Required by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), VCU tests are carried out to prove, under cultivation conditions, the agronomic value of candidate strains for cultivars, according to standards drawn up by the ministry itself. 

Embrapa is currently conducting and evaluating experiments with new varieties and strains of wheat in the region. The varieties are also evaluated by producers in experimental fields and commercial crops, observing the management recommendations prescribed by scientific research. “As we launched new varieties, the cultivated area increased, especially since 2005”, says Albrecht. 

The climatic and geographical conditions favorable to the cultivation of irrigated wheat in Western Bahia are similar to those in Central Brazil (Distrito Federal, Goiás and Minas Gerais), where Embrapa cultivars were selected for the Cerrado Biome. High temperatures during the day and mild temperatures at night, days with high light and altitudes ranging from 600 to 1.000 meters are factors that positively influence the productivity and industrial quality of grains, considered one of the best in the world. 

Recommendations for planting, management and control of crop pests and diseases for the region are similar to those recommended for Central Brazil, with blast being the most recurrent disease. “With the same preventive care and recommendations, producers have managed to escape the disease or minimize its effects”, says the Embrapa Cerrados researcher. 

According to the director of Innovation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), Cleber Soares, the tropicalization of wheat, through the innovation process, is a clear example of the importance of research and innovation in agriculture. 

“Wheat, which is a crop originally from a temperate climate, which in past decades was produced almost exclusively in the southern region of Brazil, today, thanks to Brazilian agricultural innovation, it is possible to cultivate it in the Brazilian cerrado, including in the Northeast and in part of the caatinga region. . This shows, like other crops such as soybeans, that with innovation it is possible to expand agricultural production and, above all, offer more food on the table of consumers and Brazilian citizens”, says the director, remembering the recent wheat harvest in the state of Ceará. 

For Soares, the expansion of cultivation could make Brazil a major global wheat producer. “Our perspective is that, with the advance of tropical wheat in the Cerrado region and in the Brazilian Northeast, we hope in a short-term time horizon, perhaps even in two years, we will stop importing wheat and, why not, think even exporting wheat to the world”, says the director of Mapa. 

The president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti says that, after "tropicalizing" several types of plants and animals in recent decades, Brazil is now working towards the "tropicalization" of wheat. "We are bringing wheat to the tropics. Around the DF, we already have high quality wheat. And we were pleased with the first harvest in Ceará."

Option for the producer 

Osvino Fábio Ricardi, owner of Fazenda Savana, in Riachão das Neves (BA), believes in an increase in the area planted with wheat in Western Bahia in the coming years. “The trend is increasing because the area under irrigated agriculture is increasing and wheat is an option for crop rotation. It is not the most profitable crop, but it is quick and easy”, he states, highlighting the quality of the grain harvested in the region, which has a hectoliter weight (PH)* ranging from 82 to 85, which indicates good quality. 

In 2020, 1.625 hectares of wheat were planted on the property. “This year, the climate reality was more favorable,” he notes. The producer's expectation is to harvest 6 tons/ha (or 100 sc/ha) in the current harvest, surpassing the 5,8 tons/ha (or 96,66 sc/ha) obtained in 2019. 

For next year, he hopes to plant between 800 and 1.200 hectares, according to the crop rotation planning established by the farm. “Many producers were successful this year and there is an interest in continuing to plant,” he comments, remembering that, as the crop cycle in the region varies from 90 to 110 days, the average yield is around 1 sc/ha/day. 

Wheat consultant on the farm, agronomist Pedro Matana Jr. says that the first planting of the cereal on the property occurred in the 2010 harvest, in a cotton area with soybeans and corn in rotation under an irrigation pivot. He explains that the option to plant wheat in the area, which had good fertility, was due to the presence of nematodes. “We evaluated chemical and biological control tactics and decided to install a new plant. Today, we know that wheat has a low nematode reproduction factor, according to assessments,” he says. 

He recalls that the high average productivity obtained that year, of 7,5 tons/ha (or 125 sc/ha), encouraged neighbors to plant wheat in the following harvests. “We didn’t continue planting ourselves because the price of cotton became more attractive, but we were left with the good memory of wheat.”

So much so that in 2015 the farm began planting the cereal again, even holding a field day to demonstrate its viability in the region. According to Matana, several producers started to cultivate it, even if in small areas and not every year. “The biggest stimulus is not financial. Generally, they are large producers with some agronomic problem, since wheat, at the very least, increases the diversity of plants in the area. And others still don’t cultivate because there are no mills in operation in the region yet,” he explains. 

The consultant, who also visits wheat fields on other properties in the region, observes that not all producers were successful with the crop, as they made management decisions reactively, without planning. Therefore, he pays attention to the need to understand the specificities of crop management for the Bahian Cerrado. “Many producers know wheat from the South, but they still don’t understand that here both the management strategy and the threats are different. You work with another fertilizer, another plant population, growth regulator, etc.,” he explains. 

Over the last 10 years, the consultant has observed that, if on the one hand there is a seasonality in productivity in the region, on the other there is the security of producing wheat of bread or improver quality. “We can harvest, on average, the same as in the south of the country, but all from improving grains”.

Matana highlights the break with the paradigm that wheat would be an exclusive crop for cold climates, citing the first wheat harvest in Ceará this year, in experiments conducted by Embrapa. The average productivity was 3,6 tons/ha (or 60 sc/ha), considered surprising by the researchers. In this sense, he is betting on the potential for cultural expansion in the Northeast, such as the central region of Bahia and Piauí. “It’s a frontier that is open and has to be explored.” 

Cultivate more planted

Cultivating wheat BRS 264 from Embrapa is the most planted by producers in the region, who have also tested the cultivar BRS 394. While some producers are evaluating these and other materials in pilot plots, others are already planting on a commercial scale. “BRS 264 stands out for its precocity, quality and productivity, with commercial crops producing 6 tons/ha (or 100 sc/ha). Furthermore, it is the most demanded by the mills themselves”, says Albrecht. 

Fazenda Savana uses cultivars from different companies, including BRS 264, which this year occupies 250 hectares of the area with wheat. “It has an earlier cycle and is productive, being an improving wheat”, says Ricardi. “The vast majority of wheat farmers plant the crop because it is tailored to the region and meets the demands of mills regarding the quality of flour required by the consumer. Here, it is able to produce an improving and whitening grain (of flour)”, adds Matana. 

The consultant says that the cultivar presents, in the field, a high productive potential – an average of 6 tons/ha (or 100 sc/ha), with 7,62 tons/ha (or 127 sc/ha) having been harvested in an area of 80 hectares in 2010 at Fazenda Savana – in addition to stability between harvests and broad adaptation to well-managed sandy soils (as is the case in the region). The weak point, which is susceptibility to blast, must be mitigated with management strategies. 

Neck 

The main limitation to wheat production in western Bahia is marketing, since the closest mills to Luís Eduardo Magalhães, one of the cereal producing municipalities in the region, are in the Federal District, 550 km away, and in Salvador, 960 km away. , which makes shipping more expensive. Therefore, the grains are sold to mills in the DF, Anápolis and Goiânia (GO) and states in the Northeast. “This year, there were mills from Maceió (AL) that looked for wheat in Western Bahia”, recalls researcher Jorge Chagas, from Embrapa Trigo (Passo Fundo, RS). 

But the situation may soon improve. A mill is under construction in Luís Eduardo Magalhães and there are milling companies from Paraná, São Paulo and Salvador (BA) interested in operating in the region, since the price of imported wheat has increased as a result of the rise in the dollar – currently, FOB wheat (acronym for free on board or “free on board”) has been quoted at R$1.100/ton, on average. 

Osvino Fábio Ricardi believes that the establishment of the mill can stimulate the wheat chain in the region. “And as there is a forecast of a reduction in the area planted with cotton in a pivot next year, space will be created for crops such as corn, beans and wheat itself”, adds Pedro Matana Jr. 

For Mapa's Director of Supply and Marketing, Sílvio Farnese, the location of large wheat mills in the ports makes transport logistics more expensive than imports, which enter the country by ship.

“Undoubtedly considering these obstacles, not only West Bahia, but also the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and the Federal District have great production potential. However, as there are few mill units, it is difficult for the producer to sell it, especially if production increases a lot. An alternative is contract production with mills in the region”, says Farnese. 

*Hectoliter weight is the mass of 100 liters of wheat, expressed in kg. It is a traditional marketing measure in several countries and indirectly expresses grain quality attributes, especially those related to milling. When determining the weight of a hectoliter, several characteristics of the grain are associated, such as shape, textured integument, size, weight, as well as characteristics extrinsic to the material, such as the presence of straw, earth and other foreign matter.