Water scarcity in recent years in the Vale do Sado region, added to the constraints of access to water in 2020, related to works on irrigation channels that have negatively affected rice production, drived a Brewery local company to lease these farmers land for malting barley production.
The creation of this new row of barley in Alcácer do Sal is also an opportunity for agricultural producers in this region to mitigate the effects of the crisis situation of recent years, through this alternative income and, simultaneously, long-term agricultural diversification, through the implementation of a rainfed culture. For Central de Cervejas, this is another example of the approach of its sustainability program that defines commitments along the entire value chain - “from barley to bar” -, favoring the acquisition of raw materials from national suppliers, thus reducing the volume of imported barley quota.
According to the statement, the initiative represents an agricultural innovation with the execution of a procurement process in the Vale do Sado region, of which it resulted in a total area of 100 hectares of barley production in Alcácer do Sal, distributed by three agricultural producers and with an estimated total annual production of 300 tons of malting barley.
The expectation is that the initiative may be repeated next year and expand geographically.