The 2025-2026 Cereal Campaign: A Season of Uncertainty
It has rained more than once, watering the earth and slightly humidifying the soil. However, more rainy episodes are still needed. Meanwhile, we cannot remain in a state of uncertainty, at the mercy of chance. The 2025-2026 cereal campaign has begun with mixed results, marked by highs and lows.
A Late Start
In reality, everything should have been set in motion last June, following a restricted ministerial council, primarily focused on the current year's harvest and preparations for the upcoming season. However, a lot of water has flowed under the bridges since then.
It was only during the past month that the Ministry of Agriculture announced its plans: "We have already begun to make available a stock of around 520,000 quintals of selected seeds, all varieties combined," revealed Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane, head of the General Directorate of Agricultural Production, during the post-campaign evaluation day for the 2024-2025 cereal season.
Insufficient Reserves
However, this reserve seems to be insufficient, covering only around 350,000 hectares, leaving more than 750,000 hectares at risk of not being sown. Have we learned from our mistakes? Or are we relying on ourselves and trying to find a way to overcome the challenges of sowing, which is not always guaranteed?
Farmers' Concerns
Cereal farmers usually supply themselves with what they have set aside in their personal cereal reserve for the upcoming season. This is because the regular supply of wheat seeds is always lacking, both in terms of quantity and quality. This scenario is repeated every year, and the Ministry has not learned from its mistakes. It has not paid attention to the concerns and demands of farmers.
Fertilizer Shortages
Regarding fertilizers, around 370,000 tons are planned, including 120,000 tons of DAP, 220,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, and 30,000 tons of Super 45, a highly demanded product (with only 700 tons currently being distributed). The agricultural logistics are hindered, with deliveries not arriving on time. If nothing is done, our estimates will be off the mark once again.
Last Season's Results
Like last season, we only collected around 12 million quintals, out of a total of 20 million harvested, for a global area of nearly one million hectares. This represents only one-third of our national cereal needs, estimated at 36 million quintals per year.
The Ministry's Approach
And yet, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to move forward with its current approach. This policy of neglecting the sector's needs will jeopardize its future. We are constantly being told: "Our primary objective is to achieve self-sufficiency in durum wheat," boasts Ben Romdhane. We are being fed empty promises that only serve to create illusions and make our cereal objectives a chimera.
Innovation in Seeds
Why are we still importing durum wheat when we can create our own strategic reserves by investing in innovative, productive, and more resilient varieties to drought stress and climate change impacts? The solutions exist, but those in charge of agricultural management are not visionaries or good strategists. Our agriculture, a vital sector, needs a real green revolution.
The Availability of Durum Wheat Varieties
The availability of durum wheat varieties is still a problem. However, our so-called indigenous seeds, such as "Karim," "Razzek," "Khiar," "Chili," and others, have never been of Tunisian origin. These ancient seeds are no longer profitable and are not performing well. Since 1986, around 30 scientific researchers in the Mediterranean region, including Tunisians, have confirmed that these seeds have lost their fertility and should be replaced to gain productivity. Innovation is in the seed, as they say.
Public-Private Partnership
To address this issue, a public-private partnership was established to introduce new varieties, "Saragolla" and "Iride," and register them in the official variety catalog. This followed a visit by a delegation of experts and farmers to Italy in July 2007, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in durum wheat, a condition for food security.
Farmers' Choice
These varieties have reflected the choice of farmers, who introduced and continue to defend them. "And to this day, I strongly demand more to meet my needs and ensure a good season, God willing," says Radhouane Bouguerra, a cereal farmer from Kairouan.
The Proof
The proof lies in the fact that "these two varieties have shown exceptional adaptability to our environment and remarkable resistance to drought stress," he argues. In addition to their good baking quality, these durum wheat varieties also have a high yellow index, with proven nutritional virtues.
The Benefits
"These two varieties would allow us to compensate for the costs of importing soft wheat and gain as much money as possible to replenish the state's coffers, on the one hand, and block the road to wheat cartels that monopolize the market and promote unproductive and low-resistance seeds to climate hazards, on the other hand," testifies a farmer from Beja, who wishes to remain anonymous.
The Role of Agricultural Organizations
In the face of all this, the Office of Cereals, the AVFA (Agency for Agricultural Extension and Training), and other departments related to the Ministry are not doing enough. The UTAP, which is supposed to be the national syndical organization, has failed in its defensive role and has remained in the background.
The Need for Action
Preparing the 2025-2026 cereal campaign should not be limited to providing seeds and fertilizers but also requires a real action plan and follow-up to provide high-quality productive seed varieties, favor the conditions for good sowing, and address any blocking factors that may impact the harvest yield. Next summer, we will have harvested what we have sown.
