Quantifyng a global quality index (gqi) for durum wheat to obtain eu incentives

A new regulation of the economic incentive for the production of durum wheat has been approved as part of the general reform of the EU Agricultural Policy. The recognition of such facilitation is tightly subordinate to the respect of specific qualitative standards, estimated through an appropriated Quality Global Index (IGQ), calculated through the weighted synthesis of four parameters: weight (10%); protein level (40%); gluten quality (30%); yellow index (20%). The procedure currently used for the quantification of the IGQ is not coherent from the point of view of the statistical methodology. Such incoherence produces results not always in line with the inspiring objectives of the EU normative. In particular, a significant distortion of the real weights of the four qualitative parameters takes place, giving an inappropriate weight (greater) to the gluten index. The author, therefore, proposes a statistically more robust alternative methodology and perform a critical comparison between the procedures considered in the paper. The comparison are tested using the Italian data collected by the Experimental Institute for the wheat crop in agricultural year 2003/2004. The considerable discordances in the results obtained point out definitely the need to discuss at national and EU level which one is the more correct mathematical procedure for the quantification of these important indicators of quality. So much considering the political and strategic importance of the indicators. Indeed the possibility that in the near future the production of durum wheat in the EU agricultural market will be addressed towards an improper “qualitative restructuring”, absolutely undesired from the same EU legislator, should be avoided.