When we think of biodiversity, we often picture forests, wildlife, or coral reefs. Yet agricultural biodiversity — the genetic variety of cultivated plants — is just as vital for our survival.Wheat, cultivated for more than ten thousand years, is a perfect symbol of this link between nature and civilization. It’s one of humanity’s oldest crops, …
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Wheat may look like a simple plant: it grows tall, sways in the wind, and seems content with poor soil. Yet behind every grain lies a story of water. Each hectare of wheat “drinks” between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic meters of water per crop cycle, depending on the climate, soil, and farming techniques. Water is, …
Read more “Wheat and Water: The Most Precious Resource in the Fields”
Wheat as a tool of power Wheat is not just nourishment: it is also pure geopolitics. From Mesopotamia to modern wars, controlling wheat has always meant controlling peoples and armies. Not by chance, historian Fernand Braudel once wrote that “whoever has bread holds power.” Wheat provides food for more than 2.5 billion people and supplies …
Why everyone talks about it In recent years the term “ancient grains” has become almost a trend. From Senatore Cappelli to Timilia from Sicily, more and more people are choosing these cereals as an alternative to modern wheats, often linking them to greater digestibility and health benefits. But what’s the truth behind it? What are …
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From the field “by eye” to the “connected” field For centuries, cereals — wheat, maize, barley — were cultivated thanks to farmers’ experience: watching the sky, reading the signs of the soil, adjusting water and fertilizer “by eye.” Today, however, fields have become connected and monitored places.Precision agriculture is not science fiction: it means using …
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Wheat: more than just bread Wheat is one of the most widely grown and consumed cereals in the world. But the ways we eat it vary greatly by culture: bread in Europe and North Africa, pasta in Italy, noodles and mantou in East Asia, chapati and flatbreads in India and the Middle East. The global …
Read more “Bread, Pasta, and Noodles: How Wheat Consumption Is Changing Worldwide”
Why talk about blockchain in wheat Wheat passes through many hands: from the farmer to storage, from transporters to mills, and finally to bakeries or pasta makers. At each stage, there are documents, quality checks, and payments. Often, these data remain fragmented or not fully transparent. Blockchain is a technology that records all this information …
Why wheat genetics matters Wheat is one of the pillars of global food security: it provides about 18–20% of calories and proteins in the human diet worldwide, with much higher shares in North Africa and Western Asia. Understanding how varieties evolve and which tools breeders use is crucial for yields, quality, and the resilience of …
The EcoWheatItaly project was presented at the SIMULTECH 2025 – International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications, hosted by the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain) from June 11 to 13, 2025. Representing the research team, Gianfranco Giulioni delivered the talk in the “Application Domains” session, entitled: “Modeling and Simulating the Italian Wheat …
Wheat is not only the raw material for bread, pasta, or pizza: it is also an indicator of how our food system functions. In recent decades, the wheat supply chain has become highly globalized: grains grown in Canada or Ukraine reach Italian mills, flours produced in Europe end up in baked goods in Asia, and …
Read more “From Field to Table: Short Wheat Supply Chains and Local Flours”