News
09.04.2010
Indian grain quality shame
AN INDIAN ban on a modest 1250-tonne consignment of containerised Australian export wheat has hit a raw nerve with farmers who are increasingly worried about sliding grain quality standards.
Concern is widespread about a raft of different quality issues eroding Australia's high end reputation and premium wheat markets.
The 50 containers sent to India have been rejected at Chennai port after found to contain more than permissible levels of pesticide chlorpyrifos, commonly used for insect control in farm silos and bulk grain terminals.
The small consignment is now a major controversy in India following the arrest of three clearing agents charged with attempting to get clearance for the wheat using fake documents.
Tests found the grain contained 0.7 milligrams of the pesticide per kilogram of wheat.
The permissible limit is 0.05mg/kg.
The issue of "bombing" incorrectly stored grain with insecticides prior to sale has been raised as a key problem for wheat quality by several key Australian grain hygiene experts during the past two years.
Other emerging quality issues range from doubts about varietal breeding programs, through to limited incentives for farmers to grow quality lines and concerns about the storage and handling standards being adopted by new exporters and on farms.
Of particular concern are quality control standards for wheat being exported in containers.
Grain export self-regulation for quality control was clearly not working said Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president, Andrew Broad.
He feared Australia's hard won reputation and premium markets may disappear in some areas.
"Unless we address all these quality issues, we may find ourselves competing with Black Sea exporters into the generic bulk market," he said.
Mr Broad wants a new arm of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) dedicated to wheat quality issues.
Farmers at last week's VFF grains conference demanded basic varietal issues such as test weight and sprouting tolerance also needed to be addressed, especially in light of a proposal by Grain Trade Australia to raise test weights two percentage points in some wheat grades.
Farmonline Network
