It is an honour and privilege to participate in the wheat harvest
ceremony, wheat that been produced on an
experimental basis for the first time at Petit Merlot. I would like to express
my thanks to the Dairy Farm Cooperative Society Ltd of
Petit Merlot for having kindly accepted to allocate some 3 acres of land for
the purpose. Wheat
(Triticumaestivum)
is among the three top-most produced cereal worldwide, together with maize and
rice. In 2012 global annual
production of wheat amounted to about 650-700 million tons. Mauritius is highly
dependent on food imports and is currently importing 80% of its food
requirements; wheat imports amount to around 170000 tonnes annually. STC
supplies the local market with about 100 000 tonnes of flour yearly. At 225 grams per capita, Wheat
Flour remains the main staple food other than rice. Many
thanks to Universal Development Corporation, especially Mr Philippe Levieux for
having kindly accepted to share their storage facilities for the seeds and
their support.To all those who have kindly provided
consumables to be used in the experiment : Pherrich Ltd for supply of
compost and Matikola Ltd for sharing consumables. Thanking Mr Benoit Francisque
from DCF Roots Ltd who is already making cereals and other products from manioc
and who kindly accepted to process the wheat grains from last year into flour
and Bread. I hope that this fruitful collaboration among all these stakeholders
continues and that next year we will be able to see some of the potential
applications.
