How Is High-Quality Wheat Made? A Detailed Explanation of Key Planting Techniques
Different qualities for different uses; market demand for high-quality wheat is large
As a staple food, people's daily lives cannot do without bread, noodles, cakes, steamed buns, biscuits and various other wheat products in dazzling variety. However, different wheat products have different quality requirements for wheat.
"According to indicators such as grain, protein content, wet gluten content and dough stability time, wheat can be divided into three types: strong-gluten, medium-gluten and weak-gluten. Different types are suitable for processing into different foods." According to Wei Yimin, strong-gluten wheat has high gluten strength and long dough stability time, making it suitable for bread and noodles; medium-gluten wheat has moderate gluten strength and good extensibility, making it suitable for noodles and steamed buns; weak-gluten wheat has low protein content and short dough stability time, making it suitable for biscuits, pastries and other crispy foods.
Liu Jianjun, a researcher at the Crop Research Institute of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has long studied domestic high-quality wheat varieties. He said: "At present, the ordinary wheat grown in China is mostly used to make noodles, and there is basically no problem with quality, but there is still a lack of high-quality wheat. At the same time, due to historical reasons, the development of strong-gluten wheat and weak-gluten wheat has been relatively slow. At present, there is a relatively large market gap for this part of high-quality wheat, and it even needs to be imported."
Data shows that China's wheat production, at a rate of increasing by more than 2.5 million tons per year over the past 5 years, exceeded 130 million tons in 2015, making the country a veritable major wheat producer in the world. At the same time, due to factors such as international trade, price differences and the shortage of domestic high-quality specialty wheat, a certain amount of high-quality specialty wheat has still been imported every year over the past 5 years. Taking Wudeli Flour Group Co., Ltd., the largest flour company in China, as an example, the enterprise has the largest single production line in China, using about 40,000 tons of wheat per day, and the high-quality wheat used for processing often needs to be imported.
"Against the background of 12 consecutive years of bumper harvests in China's wheat production, there are still serious problems of 'variety, quality and brand' in that production cannot meet the needs of the processing industry and consumers, and these are the main problems affecting the market competitiveness of domestically produced wheat." Wei Yimin said frankly that adjusting and guiding farmers to grow high-quality wheat is the only way forward in the current supply-side structural reform of the wheat industry, and the development potential of high-quality wheat is very large.
Planting areas require scientific layout; large-scale production relies on integrated technologies
Compared with ordinary wheat varieties, high-quality specialty wheat has high yield, excellent quality and dedicated processing uses. Therefore, in terms of planting techniques, the requirements are naturally higher.
Zhang Xiaowen, a farmer in Xiaoying Village, Guanyi Town, Liangshan County, Shandong Province, is an old hand at farming. Three years ago, he began growing high-quality wheat and also joined the Liangshan County Wanzhong Planting Professional Cooperative, applying advanced green integrated technologies to carry out unified prevention and control of pests and diseases. He told reporters that when he used to grow ordinary wheat, the yield per mu was only about 400 kg, and the benefits were average. Now that he grows high-quality wheat and has integrated technologies to "escort" it, and in terms of purchase price, high-quality wheat is also at least 0.1 yuan per jin higher than ordinary wheat. "Good varieties, advanced technology and a high purchase price naturally bring us farmers good benefits," Zhang Xiaowen said with emotion.
"Growing high-quality wheat has requirements for the plot. If the soil fertility is poor, it will affect the yield and quality of high-quality wheat." As the chairman of the Wanzhong Planting Professional Cooperative, Lü Jianhua began transferring land in 2010 to grow and purchase high-quality wheat, providing high-quality wheat specialty flour to many processing enterprises across the country. Today, the area of high-quality wheat planted by the cooperative has reached more than 80,000 mu, with a stable yield of about 500 kg per mu, and there is no worry at all about sales. "Growing wheat on sandy land gives poor quality, and compared with silt land it can be at least 200 jin worse per mu. Therefore, we still need to carry out scientific layout in planting." Lü Jianhua told reporters that this year he plans to transfer some land more suitable for growing high-quality wheat to further expand the local planting area of high-quality wheat in Liangshan.
Coincidentally, Xinxiang in Henan, a major wheat-producing area in China, has also planted large areas of high-quality wheat in recent years. The Wufeng Grain Cooperative in Jitun Town, Huixian City, Xinxiang City, signed a purchase contract for 30,000 mu of high-quality wheat with surrounding farmers. According to chairman Sun Shaochen, local agricultural experts, based on the nutritional needs of strong-gluten wheat, provided the cooperative with integrated production technologies for high-quality wheat such as fine land preparation, standardized sowing, water-saving (soil moisture measurement and regulated deficit) irrigation, soil testing and formula fertilization, and delayed nitrogen fertilizer application. This year, the wheat recovery price is expected to be 0.4 yuan/kg higher than the market price, and this alone can increase farmers' income by 1.28 million yuan.
"Now, the cost of wheat production is constantly rising. To enhance the competitiveness of wheat, technologies must be green and integrated, with good seeds matched by good methods; yields must be increased, and quality must be guaranteed even more. Only in this way can the planting efficiency of wheat be improved," Liu Jianjun said with emotion.
Scientific and technological support for the development of the entire industrial chain; integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries to maximize value
For large-area wheat planting to be highly efficient, it is also necessary to rely on the processing industry to increase its added value. Lü Jianhua's cooperative began order-based production as early as 2010, and the 40,000 tons of high-quality wheat produced each year is almost sold out as soon as it is harvested. Starting this year, Lü Jianhua plans to try integrating the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, integrating resources, and building a small specialty flour processing plant himself. "In this way, from planting to storage, and then to sales and processing, I can achieve development across the entire industrial chain, maximize the value of wheat, and achieve a win-win situation for growers and the cooperative." Lü Jianhua is full of confidence in the future.
"We also hope to participate in the wheat planting stage to guarantee wheat quality from the source." Hebei Jinshahe Noodle Industry Co., Ltd. is a well-known dried noodle processing enterprise in China. In recent years, through cooperation with the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, it built more than 20 dried noodle production lines at once, all achieving automated production. Deputy general manager Wei Haijing told reporters that as a flour processing enterprise, they need to purchase high-quality wheat, but because there is not much large-scale planting of high-quality wheat, they can only search everywhere. If they could participate in the planting stage and appropriately extend the industrial chain, they could meet processing needs.
"China currently does not lack high-quality wheat varieties, but large-scale planting is relatively limited, and there is also very little specialty flour suitable for processing. There is a problem of 'strong-gluten wheat not being strong, and weak-gluten wheat not being weak.' Therefore, there is still great room for improvement in quality." Liu Jianjun believes that although technically there is no longer a problem in making the world's most delicious bread with Chinese wheat, the direction of China's flour processing should be partial specialization. It must, according to the consumption habits and needs of Chinese people, form large-scale planting, stabilize medium-gluten wheat, and strengthen strong-gluten and weak-gluten wheat. In addition to ensuring that the supply of wheat products is not only sufficient in quantity, the variety, quality, safety, nutrition and convenience must also meet consumer needs.
In fact, from whole wheat flour and wheat germ products to feed and industrial products, in addition to food, wheat can be processed into a rich and diverse range of categories. As for future industrial development, Wei Yimin suggests implementing scientific and technological support across the entire industrial chain. He explained: "In production, integrated technologies of good seeds and good methods should be used; in the storage and transportation stage, classification and storage-transport technologies for raw grain should be used; in processing, high-value-added products that meet market demand should be produced; in addition, comprehensive utilization technologies should be promoted to develop and use wheat resources as much as possible, tap the full value of wheat, and also let Chinese people eat better-quality wheat products."