Hop growing in the Czech Republic: ways of organizing production and solving modern problems

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose. Modern challenges faced by hop growers in Russia and the Czech Republic are quite similar. Parallels in development are especially obvious with those subjects where the industry has been developing historically, for example, with the Chuvash Republic. Therefore, the purpose of the work was to study the organization of hop production in the Czech Republic, review and analyze the main challenges, as well as identify ways to solve them, implemented in the Czech Republic. Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the works of Czech scientists, the country's legislation. The official Internet resources of state and public structures of the Czech Republic became the information base. Scientific novelty. The study of ways to organize production and solve modern problems of hop growing by scientists, social activists and producers of the Czech Republic will serve as a good information base for domestic representatives of the industry. Results. To solve the problems with the obsolescence of hopspalers in the Czech Republic, it is proposed to replace them with shorter ones, which will reduce the cost of their maintenance and simplify mechanical processes. So that these changes do not reduce the volume of harvesting in the country, new varieties of hops are being developed. There are 12 of them in total, but 11 new varieties are expected to be introduced into circulation. Now the most popular and world-famous Czech variety is Saaz, which accounts for about 88% of the total hop area in the country. The high capital intensity of the industry requires large expenditures for any innovation. According to the calculations of Czech scientists, the commissioning and maintenance of a 50-hectare hop-growing field will cost 3.7 million euros. Therefore, an important aspect of the development of the industry in the Czech Republic is the availability of investment support from the state. Another distinguishing feature of the Czech hop industry is the involvement of 113 farmers in a single cooperative “Hop Growing”, which accounts for 90 % of the market share. All industry innovations and innovative solutions in the country are introduced into production through the cooperative.