Could hops become a Mediterranean crop? Opportunities and constraints of their cultivation in Italy

Abstract

The global rising popularity of craft beers pushed many brewers, researchers, and farmers to explore the possibility of growing hops out of their traditional production areas. This trend is still underway in North and South America as well as in Europe. As an example, in the European Union (EU), the expansion of the Italian brewing industry has increased the demand for raw materials, with positive effects on Italian agricultural production, including hops. However, many structural, cultural, and agronomic issues hinder the development of a steady and efficient commercial hop production in Italy. Particularly, new hop growers lack information about the best agronomic practices to be adopted, because results from public research activity on basic hop agronomy are very few and discontinuous as well.