Growing hops in Bragança (NE Portugal): past, present and future
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abstract
This paper presents an overview of the importance of hops in the past in the region of
Bragança (NE, Portugal) and the current situation of the crop. It will be still presented
an evaluation of the ecological conditions of the region for growing hops and discussed
the future of hop sector and the need for a deep restructuration of the cropping
system. The maximum area under cultivation of hops in Portugal reached 205.8 ha in
1976. In the Bragança region, a historic peak of 99.5 ha was recorded in 1986. In 1970
decade Portugal produced hops to fulfil the needs of the national brewing industry and
exported hops in two years of that decade. A difficult international situation and
problems at farm level originated a progressive disinterest of the farmers in this crop.
Currently, there are only 12 ha of hop fields in Portugal, all in the Bragança region.
However, the region of Bragança presents very favorable ecological conditions for
growing hops. The plant grows spontaneously along the waterways of the region and
the producers who resist of abandonment often reach hop yields above 2000 kg/ha,
values higher than that are achieved in the main hops producing countries. The current
cropping technique is based on an irrigation system consisting of flooding the space
between rows, which reduces competitiveness of the crop due to the associated costs
(water, energy, labor, ...). We are looking to the future thinking in the restructuration
of the whole cropping technique, changing the irrigation system from flooding to drip
irrigation. This change reduces the direct costs with irrigation and may improve the
microclimate of the canopy which in turn can reduce the phytosanitary pressure. It
also allows managing the soil with cover crops as an alternative to tillage, an aspect
with positive economic and environmental implications.
