Beer supply won't dry up in drought‚ brewing giant promises

Science is coming to the rescue of the world’s second largest brewer as drought ravages its barley-producing heartland.

John Rogers‚ director of agricultural procurement for Africa at SAB and AB InBev‚ said new technologies and techniques were being introduced to reduce water use.

“We look at drought resistance within agricultural production systems in a couple of different ways‚” Rogers said at the company’s Growers Appreciation Day held for barley producers in the Overberg region of the Western Cape.

The province‚ which produces more than 80% of South Africa’s barley‚ is in the grip of its worst drought in a century.

“First it starts with genetics and the development of varieties [of barley] that are more efficient with the water that’s available to them. So we are developing cultivars that can handle higher temperatures and that require less water to be productive.

“We also look at improved techniques of managing the crops. One of the programmes that we use globally that we are bringing into SA is called Smart Barley‚ which is leveraging new technology in data analytics to bring better information to farmers to manage decisions that can impact [yield].”

Rogers said they had been able to reduce water use through irrigation by more than 30% in parts of the country.

Since being bought by international beverage and brewing company AB InBev in October‚ SAB has announced investments of more than R3-billion into the local economy for agricultural development and to expand production.

The Africa zone president for SAB and AB Inbev‚ Ricardo Tadeu‚ told TimesLIVE the company had also undertaken to create 10 000 local jobs within five years.

“We have [had] a public commitment to keep the number of jobs stable since the beginning‚” said Tadeu.

The company also hopes to stop importing barley within five years. It plans to increase the number of local growers to 1‚200 by incorporating 800 emerging farmers into its hops‚ barley and maize supply chains.

Tadeu said the move would increase barley production from 300 000 tonnes to 475 000 tonnes annually‚ creating at least 2‚600 jobs in agriculture.