Paraguay’s Wheat Boom Delivers Record Yields And A Lifeline For Brazil
Paraguay’s 2025 wheat season is closing as one of the strongest in its history, underscoring how disciplined farm management and open markets can change a small country’s place in regional food security.
Surveys by the Paraguayan Chamber of Exporters and Traders of Cereals and Oilseeds (Capeco) show wheat planted on about 349,425 hectares, with a margin of variation of 5 percent, and average yields projected between 3,000 and 3,200 kilos per hectare.
That implies total production of roughly 1.1 to 1.2 million tons. The campaign was not trouble-free. Early sowings were hit by June frosts and by Pyricularia, the wheat blast disease that stalks South America.
Yet most later fields recovered well. In Alto Paraná, a key grain region, farmers report on-farm yields of about 2,800 to 3,000 kilos per hectare, crediting careful agronomic practices and generally cooperative weather during critical growth stages.
Quality has been another bright spot. Paraguayan wheat this year is delivering good baking characteristics, which keeps local mills well supplied and strengthens demand from southern Brazil.
Between October 2024 and March 2025, wheat exports reached around 296,600 tons, an 82 percent jump versus the same period a year earlier.
Close to 99 percent of that volume went to Brazil, with only small shipments to Bolivia and Vietnam, and foreign-exchange earnings from wheat roughly tripled in the first months of 2025.
Paraguay’s wheat surges on decades of agronomic work
Behind this strong season lies four decades of quiet, technical work rather than grand speeches. National production has climbed to about one million tons a year, some forty times higher than in the early 1980s.
This growth is due in part to breeding programs led by agronomists such as Mohan Kohli, who pushed for higher-yield, disease-tolerant varieties tailored to local conditions.
For Paraguay’s farmers, wheat has become a pillar of crop rotation, helping protect soils, stabilize yields and diversify income beyond a single commodity. For Brazil, it means a reliable, nearby supplier that reduces dependence on distant origins.
The remaining threats are very real – climate swings and wheat blast can still punish early plantings – but the trajectory points to a market-driven success story in a region where policy experiments often get more attention than the producers who quietly feed their neighbors.
Key Facts
— Deep Dive
— For the complete picture, read our in-depth guide: Paraguay: Washington's Most Valued Ally in Latin America
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief