A view from the Association of German Hop Growers
At the European Voice event we recently attended (see our previous entry) we had a short chat with Mr Otmar Weingarten, who is Managing Director of the the Verband Deutscher Hopfenpflanzer, the Association of German Hop Growers. Mr Weingarten spoke about: the yield and quality reductions that German hop growers (who account for a third of global production) might face if the revision of the current pesticides regulation, Directive 91/414, is passed; the grave threat posed by the hop aphid on yields in Germany; and the viability of organic methods.
Otmar is telling it how it is. Growing quality horticultural crops like hops is not for the faint-hearted. Perhaps he even under-estimates just how fast the hop-aphid can destroy a crop – 10 days is plenty! Also, even a small infestation can render a crop useless because the mycotoxins produced by the naturally-occurring fungi growing on the sugary waste left by aphids is not only dangerous for human consumption, they can kill the yeasts that brew the beer! It is indeed possible to breed new hops that are naturally tolerant of aphids; we know because we have done this already. But to replace all the hop crops growing around the world will take at least 30 years. So for now growers need to use chemicals. Not any old chemical; only the few that are registered and declared safe for use by some unbelieveably meticulous regulation based on scientific testing and risk assessment. The organic growers can use chemicals as well but they are very ineffective which is why they suffer such yield losses and the market is so small. The MEPs leading this campaign away from risk management are unfit for purpose, and should be exposed as such. But how can these MEPs be held accountable when the EC cannot even account for itself? Time for a rethink? Should our food supply be misguided by green zealots like Ms Breyer or steered responsibly by vastly experienced academics like Professor Sir Colin Berry, our modern day equivalent of Paracelsus? Can a baby peel a potato?