A realidade da cadeia do trigo no Brasil: o elo produtores/cooperativas

The present article is about the wheat productive chain in Bra- zil and focuses on the economic reality of its main connecting links, with emphasis on the links between agricultural and industrial production. Let it be accentuated that the article brings present time accounts of the sector in Brazil, from the result analysis of field research among agricul- tural producers, producer co-operatives and wheat mills. The study of the Brazilian wheat culture chain, with its problems, offers a broader view to understand the e country’s conditions, which would allow us not only to answer the exposed doubts, but over all to shed some light on the main paths traced by Brazil’s wheat production in these first years of the XXIst century. The national wheat culture is threatened and will hardly reach self-sufficiency, since Brazilian producers cannot become compe- titive enough, neither sustain comparative advantages particularly in relation to competitors from Argentina.Wheat commercialization faces equal misfortune, whether related to the product’s prices or to the quality demanded by the mills. Since the full withdrawal of state intervention in national wheat production, carried out in 1991/91, wheat production has been regulated merely by market moods, and this completely modi- fied the status of Brazilian producer competitiveness and it’s negative aftermath is felt throughout chain itself. Thus, one of the main conclu- sions is that the Brazilian wheat chain does not function adequately, as the efficiency of the national production is kept in check, and its future, compromized.