Grupo Editorial Agrícola Henar Comunicación, in collaboration with the School of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Valladolid (INEA), held a workshop to present the advances of the Wheatbiome project.
The event was inaugurated by Félix Revilla Grande, director of the School of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering at the Pontifical University of Comillas, who emphasized that “talking about agronomy, water, and organic farming is essential to ensure food sovereignty.”
Following him, Jesús López Colmenarejo, executive director of Grupo Editorial Agrícola Henar Comunicación, one of the project’s partners, detailed the progress made so far by Wheatbiome. “It is a European project involving 13 partners from 6 countries who are conducting studies to understand the effect of biotic and abiotic factors on wheat microbiomes and their quality” he said.
Specifically, the project is studying how irrigation and synthetic chemical elements affect the wheat microbiome. By observing their impact, it is hoped to develop new, more profitable and sustainable foods and feeds, learning about new fermentation capabilities from wheat microbiomes.
Preliminary results
As mentioned, the meeting presented the preliminary results obtained so far, comparing the trials being conducted in Spain and the Netherlands. In Spain, the study fields are located on farms in the province of Zamora, while in the Netherlands they are spread across different locations.
So far, the available results refer to 2023 – the project’s start date – which was climatologically very bad for Spain due to the intense drought of that year, directly impacting production. However, among the parameters obtained, one of the most relevant data is that different yeasts and fungi have been detected in the farms in both Spain and the Netherlands, depending on whether the crop was grown under dry or irrigated conditions. “Possibly, this will affect the products made with the wheat being cultivated. Because the goal is to analyze how the farmer’s work can affect the final result. And these microorganisms can have, for example, an effect on gluten. And if we manage to cultivate in a way that allows us to obtain foods with different levels of gluten, we will possibly have the ability to produce a type of food made with low gluten by working the production in a certain way” explained Jesús López Colmenarejo.
After this contextualization, a panel of experts, divided into two round tables, analyzed, on the one hand, the effect of irrigation on wheat and, on the other, the particularities of organic production.
The effect of irrigation
Those responsible for analyzing the impact of irrigation on wheat crops were Fernando Sánchez, manager of Irconsa; Francisco Ciudad, researcher at ITACyL; Ricardo Pérez, owner of the fields where Wheatbiome is harvesting in Spain; and Eloy Bailez, president of Ferduero and member of the Permanent Commission of Fenacore.
Throughout their intervention, they analyzed the evolution that irrigation has experienced in recent years, especially thanks to the implementation of precision technology, with drip irrigation at the forefront, and the possibilities it offers. Among them, in addition to controlling efficiency, the potential offered by data analysis in combination with information obtained from soil studies was highlighted.
Limiting factors in the field of irrigation were also discussed. Economically, the profitability of the crop is usually the main obstacle to making the necessary investments.
In the field of research and based on the different climatic conditions of Spain in general and Castilla y León in particular, it was highlighted that drought resistance is a very complex factor in crop development, and work is being done on analyzing tolerance to thermal and water stress. However, given the complexity of the work, results are not expected in less than 10 years.
Particularities of organic production
The organic production panel was composed of Juan Luis Fradejas (INEA); Manuel Fernández Calderón (ITACyL); David Fonseca (ARAE); and Luis de la Fuente (farmer).
It was highlighted that organic production has a future and requires a change of mindset, and that one of the keys to success lies in studying the organic matter of the soil. Although today this type of analysis is still minor – due to factors such as the lack of soil homogeneity making costs very high – statistics indicate a growing trend in organic production area in Castilla y León. Thus, the latest available data indicates that in 2023 the total area exceeded 113,000 hectares and it is possible that in 2024 it will exceed 140,000. Of those 113,000 hectares in 2023, 16% were dedicated to cereals, with wheat having a significant weight due to the lower complexity of its cultivation compared to others.
To conclude, the economic differences offered by organic production compared to traditional production were addressed. The main conclusion is not so much about profitability, as it is, but about the price volatility to which the agricultural sector is subjected, which is exacerbated in the case of the organic sector due to having fewer tools and therefore being more economically constrained.
