Wheat is a winter cereal from the Poaceae family with a millennia-long presence in the traditions, food security, and economic stability of people around the world. Like other crops, wheat has undergone spontaneous crossings and genetic selection over millennia to become the plant we know today, with characteristics such as high productivity, disease resistance, local adaptation, and nutritional quality. Its edaphoclimatic adaptation has allowed it to be planted under various climatic conditions worldwide.
In Brazil, wheat is cultivated from the Southern Region to the cerrado regions in Central Brazil. As a commodity, it is common to encounter both genetically modified (GMO) and non-GMO wheat in the market. Thus, this article will focus on non-GMO wheat, also known as conventional wheat, and the best production practices applied to it.
According to Conab, between 2019 and 2023, the area dedicated to wheat production in Brazil grew by 70%, but for 2024, the entity projects a 4.7% decline (3.3 million hectares) compared to the previous harvest due to climatic uncertainties, high costs, and price fluctuations per ton. However, despite the decrease in national production area, Conab’s projected wheat productivity could increase by up to 26% compared to the previous year. Although productivity estimates foresee an increase, it is still necessary to import wheat to meet domestic demand for human consumption. Currently, Brazil is ranked 14th among the world’s largest wheat producers (2023/24 harvest).
In the industry, wheat stands out for its flour, which is the main raw material used in the production of baked goods. The flour is obtained through milling, with or without the separation of bran and germ. The milling process involves three stages: stage 1 – reception, pre-cleaning, and silage; stage 2 – cleaning and conditioning; stage 3 – milling. After this procedure, the flour is classified into whole wheat, white, common, and special types, or separated based on other grain components such as bran and germ, and particle size, such as semolina and farina.
Proving its versatility, non-GMO wheat is used beyond the food industry, being prevalent in animal feed, beverage production, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including medicines, cosmetics, and personal care products, and paper and cardboard production as an alternative to traditional wood fibers, among others.
In the food supply chain, for wheat to reach the consumer’s table, the grains must be fit for consumption or processing, following standards and regulations defined by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (MAPA). These regulations guide the classification, quality, and standardization of grains, which are crucial as they establish criteria for commercialization to ensure food safety and the quality of derived products.
In Brazil, non-GMO wheat follows Normative Instruction No. 38, dated November 30, 2010. This regulation refers to the official classification standard, with requirements for identity and quality, sampling, presentation mode, and labeling of grains from the species Triticum aestivum and Triticum durum. The regulation provides classification guidelines into defined groups according to use: Group I is wheat intended directly for human consumption, categorized by type according to its quality; Group II refers to wheat intended for milling and other purposes, allocated into classes based on use and, depending on its quality, into types. The “Other Uses” class includes products not fitting traditional uses, such as animal feed production and industrial use.
Plant classification, in turn, is the method for determining grain quality through analyses, with results compared to official standards. Grains are sent to laboratories and classified by trained professionals in the field. Therefore, the regulations characterize the grains and define the quality parameters to be evaluated, such as grain color, moisture, and percentage of damaged grains, establishing acceptable tolerances for each parameter.
These norms and requirements set by Brazilian grain quality legislation are important for ensuring consumer food safety, preventing fraud and misrepresentation in grain commercialization, and promoting sustainable production and sector competitiveness. With the introduction of GMO wheat cultivars to the market, it became necessary to adopt guidelines for best practices in non-GMO wheat production. Below, you will find the principles of best practices for non-GMO (conventional) wheat production.
The production of non-GMO wheat requires meticulous attention from planting to harvest to ensure the quality and purity of the final product and avoid possible cross-contamination with GMO cultivars. Best practices can generally be divided into soil conservation practices, seed and fertilizer acquisition and use, planting, harvesting, and post-harvest.
Seeds and Fertilizers
The starting point is selecting non-GMO wheat seeds from reliable and certified sources, ensuring the quality and genetic purity of the plants. The chosen cultivar should match the environmental conditions of the production unit, as different cultivars have varying disease tolerances, yield potentials, and fertilizer costs. These details are crucial to prevent productivity gaps and misuse of planting areas.
Therefore, management practices should follow the specific characteristics and vulnerabilities of the cultivar relative to the environment, seeding periods according to the Agricultural Risk Zoning, soil conditions, and fertilization. Organic and mineral fertilizers should be used based on soil analyses to avoid excesses, minimize environmental contamination, and reduce economic losses. The chemical composition of the wheat grain can vary by region, cultivation conditions, chosen cultivar, soil characteristics, and harvest year. The nutrient content of the grain and its fractions influences the functional and technological characteristics of the products and, combined with structural properties, defines the quality of wheat flour, which is the main product derived from wheat and represents a significant source of energy in the human diet.
Soil Conservation Practices
Choosing areas for wheat planting following crop rotations is an important strategy to reduce disease incidence, improve soil fertility, and minimize the need for pesticides. Besides the planting history of the area, considering the predominant soil type on the property (or region, according to Brazilian soil classification) helps in making conservation management decisions.
An important practice is that sowing should not occur in excessively wet soil to reduce the risk of common wheat mosaic. This practice also prevents excessive soil compaction by machinery, which could hinder crop growth. Each planting system used, such as conventional or no-till, has its peculiarities in conservation management. However, conventional management requires special care from the producer, as intensive soil disturbance in this system can lead to soil degradation and nutrient loss due to the breakdown of aggregate structure and increased entropy.
In a no-till system, conservation practices involve maintaining permanent soil cover through crop rotation and succession, and soil movement and cutting in the planting line. The advantages of this system include eliminating soil erosion from rainfall, improving soil permeability and porosity through the presence of roots that aid in aggregate structure, and enhancing water permeability and moisture retention in the upper soil layers, providing good growth conditions for plants. No-till also offers benefits in fuel savings, time, labor, better sowing timing, improved crop response to rainfall, and better seed germination and plant emergence.
Another significant practice in soil life conservation is integrated pest, disease, and weed management, adopting biological, cultural, and mechanical control methods before using chemical products. The main advantage of no-till systems is the prioritization of minimal soil disturbance and maintenance of mulch cover throughout the crop growth phase, which provides various benefits for the soil, such as reducing weed growth and recovering soil structure.
Harvesting, Storage, and Traceability
Concerns about wheat quality should start from the choice of cultivar to be planted, as seed variety, soil conditions, crop management, and harvest timing directly affect the characteristics of the harvested grain and, consequently, its industrial use.
Therefore, wheat harvesting should be done at the appropriate maturation point (moisture %), with clean equipment to avoid cross-contamination with other GMO varieties. The same applies to storage and processing: it should be done under suitable temperature and humidity conditions to preserve quality and conducted in clean environments, without mixing GMO cultivars, to ensure correct grain segregation.
We have discussed in previous articles the importance of grain traceability, which you can check through the link. Traceability requires detailed records of all stages of the production process, from planting to commercialization. These records also enable obtaining quality certifications issued by recognized bodies, ensuring compliance with non-GMO wheat standards.
Learn More About Grain Traceability: OPTA Blockchain System
OPTA has a specialized unit for special grains, dedicated to ensuring the quality of grains that reach the industry. All wheat sold by our special grains unit is of superior quality, cleaned to Food Grade Standard, Non-GMO, with ProTerra and Non-GMO certifications, guaranteed by analysis reports and traceability.
We work with specific cultivars for industrial applications, focused on the quality properties of the raw grains. Consult our experts through the link for more information about available cultivars.
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