Farmers Benefit from High-Yielding Soft Wheat Seeds and Training on Good Agricultural Practices for Wheat Cultivation

“Without wheat, we have nothing. We can’t live without wheat, flour, and bread says Mohamad Boukdal, a farmer from Akkar while standing in his field of wheat.

In December 2023, 2 394 small-scale farmers across Lebanon received 250 tonnes of high-yielding soft wheat seeds, distributed in quantities of 50, 100, or 150 Kg per farmer based on the size of their lands.  

Lebanon highly relies on the imports of soft wheat for bread production, which renders the country particularly vulnerable to global shocks and trade disruptions.

In light of the current economic crisis, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Lebanon, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI), implements a project funded by the Government of Japan.

This project aims to enhance food security and place Lebanon on the path to achieve a degree of self-sufficiency in soft wheat production, which would contribute to improving farmers’ livelihoods, increase the local markets’ resilience and limit the repercussions of future supply chain pressures. 

For Narjes Saleh, a woman farmer from Minieh, North Lebanon, this was the first time she grew soft wheat. “We are expecting a good yield, and I am hoping to sell the wheat to flour mills,” she says with a big smile on her face.

Jack Makhoul, a farmer from North Lebanon, has been cultivating wheat with his family since he was young. He was happy to receive 50 kg of soft wheat seeds, which he is planting for the first time and hopes for a good harvest.

As part of this project, farmers’ capacities are strengthened on good agricultural practices for wheat cultivation and informal seed production.

In June and July 2024, 454 farmers benefited from technical training for improved wheat production practices. Thirteen training sessions were conducted in Menieh-Danieh, Akkar, Nabatieh, Baalbeck, Hermel, West Bekaa, Rachaya, and Zahle.

Farmers were trained on good agricultural practices for wheat cultivation, including planting, ploughing, integrated pest management, irrigation, informal seed production, management of storage pests among other related topics.

The training was followed by a field visit to the wheat demo plots conducted at the Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute, where different varieties of wheat are tested and evaluated for their yield, grain quality, resistance to pests, and other important performance characteristics.

In the wheat fields, farmers and trainers discussed the performance of several promising wheat varieties being tested for their high yield and resistance to rust.

We benefited a lot from these training sessions,” says Hassan Tarchichi, a farmer from Zahle, Bekaa. He adds, “We learned how to prepare the land, how to plant wheat seeds, what is the recommended quantity of wheat seeds to be planted per dunum, and the best planting dates. We also learned how to manage wheat pests such as the sunn pest and the sawflies that feed on the inside of the stem and cause stem breakage.”

For Hassan, wheat can play a significant role in the Lebanese economic cycle, and it is essential to reach a certain self-sufficiency. Looking at his golden wheat field in the Bekaa valley, Hassan insists, “The cultivation of wheat must be continuous or else we will have to import from abroad. This is how it should be done.”

Farmers are experiencing significant advantages by adopting high-yielding soft wheat seeds combined with training on good agricultural practices (GAP) for wheat cultivation. This dual approach not only enhances productivity but also promotes sustainable farming methods.

High-yielding soft wheat seeds are specially bred to increase crop yields, providing a more abundant harvest compared to traditional wheat varieties. These seeds are designed to be resistant to diseases, reducing the need for chemical pesticides and thereby lowering production costs and environmental impact.