Wheat Production

Wheat is the staple food in the world and a great source of carbohydrates as well as vitamins and minerals. Due to being rich in carbohydrates, wheat has become the staple food, meeting daily intake requirements. Wheat is the second most important cereal after maize corn and food security basket for Northern Cyprus. Wheat flour`s easiness to produce various products such as bread, buns, cakes and has made the crop popular with the general populace. Its importance has two-pronged i.e. to the farmer and to the nation.

To the Farmer

To the farmer, wheat is one of the cash crop ventures with a very lucrative return on investment. A new study indicates that a return on wheat breeding about $33 for every dollar invested. When investing about $2,000 / hactare, a farmer can get a total income of about $66,000, giving a gross profit of about $66,000 / hactare. We can imagine a farmer doing 200 hactares and getting between 8 and 11 tonnes / hactare. This will be a huge profit!

Wheat farming is also a major viable component of double cropping farming. We are always encouraging farmers who use irrigation to adopt the double cropping concept in order to improve their bottom and top line stories at the farm level as well as to spread coverage of fixed costs per year. 

Growing wheat in winter also aid the spread of cash flow on the farm. The basic farm business principle is that farmers should have at least 2 major crop harvests per year supported by other complementary crop sales / ventures after every two months. We generally recommend diversity in terms of crops and other non-crop ventures on the farm. This generally ensures the smooth running of farming expenditure. 

To the Nation

Since the nation is in a drive for import substitution, producing wheat locally will result in forex savings which would otherwise be channeled to other more productive related priorities of the country's economy. Northern Cyprus annual wheat/flour consumption is about (350 000 MT) and over the years the country is producing less than a quarter of that. One can imagine the savings if this sum was produced locally.

Producing wheat locally will create employment directly at the glassroot level (agriculture value chain) and indirectly (other value chains), upstream and downstream industries such as milling, baking, and food outlets. Currently wheat contributes between 15% - 19% (a significant chunk). Producing beyond this requirement locally will surely double the contribution to the agriculture GDP.

The standard cost structure for wheat at high management levels ranges between $2000 and $3100 / hactare at full absorption (i.e. incorporating all variable costs). This cost outlay is huge on a per hectare basis and as such farmers should always aim to achieve higher yields of upwards of 6 tonnes per hactare for them to realize a margin.

Northern Cyprus used to achieve some of the highest national average yields of wheat between 5-6 tonnes / hactare in the past as compared to the current global average of 2.5 – 3 tonnes / hactare. Some good farmers are getting above 10 tonnes per ha and even up to 15 tonnes / hactare. We can imagine the returns in such cases. It is imperative to adopt profitable agronomic practices (GAPs) to improve productivity.

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