O Trigo no Brasil

Resumo

            Wheat, originally a temperate country plant, is cultivated in Brasil since the epoch of its discovering.

            The seed, introduced by portuguese, spanish and dutch, evoluted and adapted itself to our natural environment, different varieties being found in each producing State. These special varieties resulted either from spontaneous adaptation to the climate or from crossbreeds developed at experimental stations. In this last case, one must emphasize the importance of wheat-rust resistant species obtained that way. Wheat-rust, the well-known plague, caused the destruction of wheat plantations in Brasil during the last century.

            The particular interest in wheat cultivation which appeared during the last few years is not only due to the distribution o f selected seeds but to official assistance also.

            Though a very conspicuous increase in production has been noted, (87 180 tons in 1920, with a production per hectare of 64 kg., against 248 058 tons In 1946, with a production of 823 kg/ha.) Brasil must still buy from foreign markets so that the national necessities are supplied.

            The southern region is the wheat producing zone of Brazil. In the State of Rio Grande do Sul (76,3% of the national production in 1945) as well as in the State of Santa Catarina, the cereal was introduced in the XVIII th. century, brought in by settlers coming from the Azores. At the close of that century, the two States were producing wheat but the crop was weak due to the incidence of wheat-rust.

            Once the furnisher of the countries of the Prata region, the south of Brasil utilizes, nowadays, the seed which resulted from the selection of brasilian elements and varieties from that region; to be noted is the work done at Alfredo Chaves, now Veranópolis, on the Planalto and at Bagé, near the border.

            In the States of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, wheat is generally cultivated in forts soils and alternated with corn; on the grasslands of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, where the first wheat fields were planted, the association of wheat to corn is made for ten or twelve years without fertilizers, the soil being left to rest for four or six years before sowing again.

            The Planalto and Campanha region in the State of Rio Grande do Sul are wheat producing zones. In the first, where wheat is cultivated in forest soils, two zones can be distinguished: the colonial zone, which suffered italian influence, and the second - Passo Fundo - to the north, was relatively recently colonized by italians and germans. The "Municipio" (County) of Erechim, in this last zone, is the greater wheat-producing unit of the State, having produced 30 380 000 kg. in 1945.

            In the State of Santa Catarina, the valley of the Peixe river is the most important zone in what regards to wheat production.

            Its peopling was a direct cause of the construction of the São Paulo-Rio Grande railroad and the introduction of the cereal is imputed to settlers which came from Rio Grande and Germany, after the First World War.