Lower quality wheat will boost production

SA’s wheat industry wants grading and planting rules for the cereal relaxed to help increase yields and revive production after farmers sowed the smallest area since 1931 this season.

Possible changes to grading terms and to a voluntary agreement that stipulates which wheat varieties producers will plant, known as release criteria, were among proposals the industry was considering, Grain SA CEO Jannie de Villiers said last week.

"The quality requirements of the milling and baking industries are too stringent," he said. Allowing farmers to plant cultivars that focused on higher yields would help their profitability, "and then hopefully they’ll start planting again. Hopefully we can produce more than half of what we need at the moment," he said. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za