In France, cereals are grown by 54% of French farms (9.3 Mha)* . Annual production of soft wheat, maize, barley and durum wheat were around 35 MT, 15.5 MT, 11.5 MT and 1.6 MT respectively in 2021. Almost half of cereal production is exported, 14% is used for animal feed, 12% is stored and consumed on the farm, and only 9% is used for human consumption.  By 2021, the sector had generated sales of €15.1 billion and 444,000 jobs (41% in production and 45.6% in 2nd transformations). Providing 45% of human food calories, cereals are a major source of food independence, but production has to cope with the consequences of climate change, and prices fluctuate regularly according to the weather, speculation, changes in stocks, geopolitics... all of which makes feeding populations more fragile. At the same time, genetic improvements in yields seem to have reached a ceiling. To maintain production quantity and quality, and limit its environmental impact, the cereal sector needs to step up its agro-ecological transition.

With this context in mind, INRAE and its Cereals industry group, which brings together researchers and industry partners, are particularly interested in the selection of wheat resistant to disease and climate change, innovative technical itineraries to reduce inputs, the reduction of energy costs in processes, the improvement of nutritional qualities and the reduction of allergies or sensitivities in wheat-based foods or related cereals, and the valorization of co-products.

For this, the Cereal industry group has i) taken stock of the state of the art in research and the economic situation, ii) undertakes cross-disciplinary projects such as "Agriculture et alimentation durables. Trois enjeux dans la filière céréales", published by Editions Quae (Matière à débattre/à décider, 2017 ISBN: 978-2-7592-2623-8)- iii) works with all the industry groups on current social issues. For example, recent projects have focused on "Agroecology and markets" (2023), "Analysis of losses from harvest to distribution", "Analysis of diversity in agriculture", cross-comparison of the interprofessional (InterCéréales) Filière plan with the INRAe 2020-25 orientation document, etc.

Its members also take part in meetings with professional partners, and are called upon as experts in various bodies. Each year, the Filière Céréales group is requested by AEMIC to organize a half-day conference as part of the Journées Techniques des Industries Céréalières (Technical Days for the Cereal Industries). The topics covered at the last JTIC were gluten digestibility (2022) and climate change (2020).

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