Climate-induced decline in the quality and quantity of European hops calls for immediate adaptation measures

0577470 - ÚVGZ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Možný, Martin - Trnka, Miroslav - Vlach, V. - Žalud, Zdeněk - Čejka, Tomáš - Hájková, L. - Potopová, Vera - Semenov, M. A. - Semerádová, Daniela - Büntgen, Ulf
Climate-induced decline in the quality and quantity of European hops calls for immediate adaptation measures.
Nature Communications. Roč. 14, č. 1 (2023), č. článku 6028. E-ISSN 2041-1723
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) EF16_019/0000797; GA TA ČR(CZ) SS02030040
Research Infrastructure: CzeCOS IV - 90248
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : climate change * hops * adaptation measures * decline in quality * crop production * spatiotemporal analysis * plant cone
OECD category: Agronomy, plant breeding and plant protection
Impact factor: 16.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41474-5

A recent rise in the global brewery sector has increased the demand for high-quality, late summer hops. The effects of ongoing and predicted climate change on the yield and aroma of hops, however, remain largely unknown. Here, we combine meteorological measurements and model projections to assess the climate sensitivity of the yield, alpha content and cone development of European hops between 1970 and 2050 CE, when temperature increases by 1.4 °C and precipitation decreases by 24 mm. Accounting for almost 90% of all hop-growing regions, our results from Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia show that hop ripening started approximately 20 days earlier, production declined by almost 0.2 t/ha/year, and the alpha content decreased by circa 0.6% when comparing data before and after 1994 CE. A predicted decline in hop yield and alpha content of 4–18% and 20–31% by 2050 CE, respectively, calls for immediate adaptation measures to stabilize an ever-growing global sector.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0346601