The revival of a large-scale hop production in Russia can provide agrarians with extra income up to 5 billion rubles a year – this money will come from the procurement of hops by Russian companies, the President of the Barley and Malt Union Alexander Mordovin told within the framework of RIA Novosti round table discussion.
“We should revive the Russian hop production”, he noticed. “Provided the revival of hop growing in Russia, direct extra incomes to the state AIC can rise up to 5 billion rubles a year”, Mordovin added. As A. Mordovin said, this money will come from the procurement of hops by breweries operating on the territory of the RF.
Moreover, hop growers can get extra revenue from exports.
According to the union data, the crop areas under hops reduced from 395,1 hectares in 2009 and 396 hectares in 2008 to 227 hectares in 2010. The hop croppage in Russia reduced to 19,9 tons with yields of 0,9 hwt /ha in the droughty year 2010 compared to 307 tons with yields of 7,7 hwt/ha in 2009 and 275,7 tons with yields of 7,0 hwt/ha in 2008. On Wednesday the union didn’t report the data of 2011 on crop areas and hop yields.
As A. Mordovin explained, with modern brewing technologies brewers use 4-5 g alpha acid, which is contained in hops, for production of one hectoliter of beer. “That leads to the demand of 500 tons of alpha acid”, he said. The level of alpha acid differs in different hop varieties. “Our brewing industry need an average of 5-10 tons of hops”, A. Mordovin calculated.
Nowadays native brewers have to import the major volumes of hops. Hops are imported mostly from Germany, the Czech Republic and the USA.
“Hops can grow here in Russia, well then we should have it in our agriculture”, the expert stressed. What is more, climatic parameters not only in Chuvashia, Mariy-El, Udmurtia, but also in other regions are suitable for hop growing. For instance, Ryazan, Kursk, Moscow region. Mordovin reminded that earlier there was the Moscow hop station that provided Moscow breweries with hops.
As A. Mordovin reported, Barley and Malt Union together with the Union of Russian Brewers met the State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Alexander Petrikov. They discussed the issue of Russian hop growing revival. “I know that a regional program is being prepared in Chuvashia (the main hop growing region in Russia – editor’s note) at the moment, that is strong enough, we shall support it”, Mordovin added.
Nowadays there is a state support for the hop growing subsector. As the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Elena Skrynnik said answering the questions of Chuvashian reporters, the federal budget provides subsidies for the establishment and handling of hop before the period of its tradable fructification in an amount of 30 thousand rubles for the establishment of 1 hectare and 4 thousand rubles for the handling of 1 hectare.
The republic budget subsidizes in an amount of 15,9 thousand rubles for 1 ton of hop on condition of its marketing, for the establishment and handling of hop before the period of its tradable fructification – in an amount of 8,5 thousand rubles for the establishment of 1 hectare and 1,5 thousand rubles for the handling of 1 hectare. Besides, some part of expenditures for the purchase of chemicals, crop insurance, payment of loans taken out for hop establishment (listing on the website) is to be recovered.
While saying about agricultural subsectors pushed to development by brewing industry, A. Mordovin also noticed that direct incomes to agrarians from the sale of malting barley in 2008 were up to 25 billion rubles, malting barley seeds – up to 1,6 billion rubles, incomes from the sale of malt in 2007 were up to 24 billion rubles.
Thus, total direct incomes to the subsectors (including incomes to hop growers) can amount more than 50 billion rubles. Now near 300 agricultural producers – from farmers to agriholdings – manufacture raw materials for the brewing industry. Around 95% of the whole malting barley in the RF is grown in nine regions – Kursk, Orlov, Tula, Ryazan, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Belgorod regions as well as in Mordovia and Tatarstan.
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