Barley is used for brewing beer. The Ecuadorian Minister of Agriculture stated that the objective is for all imports of malting barley to be covered with national crops.

There are more than 20,000 hectares that will be planted with malting barley until 2030 throughout Ecuador, which will generate some 175,000 jobs in the countryside, said the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Danilo Palacios, during a tour last Monday of the lands of the Virgen del Volcán Association, located in the Lloa parish, in Quito.

This will allow the barley imports demanded by the brewing industry to be replaced by Ecuadorian production. “This is a historic day for agriculture in our country. We are showing that it is possible when there is the will of all the actors in the chain of power to develop the country,” said Palacios.

In Lloa, the Virgen del Volcán Association works together with Cervecería Nacional in the mechanized sowing of barley cultivation, under the Contract Sowing program, developed by the aforementioned company. The purpose is to generate adequate use of the field with sustainable practices.

Martín Espinosa, legal and corporate affairs director of Cervecería Nacional, pointed out that an outstanding example of this effect is the productive growth experienced by the Virgen del Volcán Farmers Association.

In 2021, its productivity reached 1.4 tons per hectare, which rose to four tons per hectare in 2023.

Espinosa stated that now the objective is for all imports of malting barley to be covered with the harvest of Ecuadorian farmers. “In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, various farmers associations and our National Brewery team, we aspire to achieve this goal by 2030. Our vision is that all Ecuadorian beers, such as Pílsener and Club, are made exclusively with barley. cultivated by national hands in the long term,” commented Espinosa.

The Cervecería Nacional Contract Sowing program allows Ecuadorian malt barley producers to have a secure market for their production. Currently, the program has benefited 2,000 farmers and generates 45,000 indirect jobs.

Palacios indicated that this is an articulated work between the different actors in the chain, for which the ministry facilitates the processes, such as the import of voyager variety seed.