British growers will be attending a milestone event when the Asparagus Growers' Association, in conjunction with the HDC, meet at a demonstration workshop being held at the PGRO offices at Thornhaugh, Cams, next week.
The centre of attraction will be the formal UK validation of Aspire - a system of root analysis successfully developed in New Zealand which can measure the level of soluble carbohydrate using a Brix reading.
Aspire has already been called the first ‘fuel gauge for growers’ when the industry excitedly gave the concept its hundred percent backing three years ago at an AGA open day - provided that it could be proved in the UK. Since then there have been 12 trial sites under evaluation which proved this was possible.
With levels being monitored year-round this not only maximises yields, but gives an accurate ongoing forecast of the condition and life of beds which last for many years.
A further benefit is that UK harvesting could be beyond June 21, the traditional date that has always been recognised as the end of the season.
Since then the HDC has worked with the New Zealand Crop and Food Research Institute and ADAS to develop a programme, aware that Aspire has already been taken up by Washington State and being studied by growers in France, Holland and Germany.
Next week growers will hear details of the background and development from consultant Dr Derek Wilson from New Zealand who has been at the forefront evaluating the potential, and a summary of the projected results from Dr Kim Green of HDC.
They will then be able to take part in practical demonstrations which cover root systems, field sampling and measuring levels of Brix.
Details of how to use the Aspire UK website, which will create and evaluate an individual confidential monitoring system for each participant, will also be unveiled.
Run by Hargreaves Plants which holds the intellectual property rights, the cost is based on an annual fee of £100, plus a sliding scale of £20 per hectare for the first 20 hectares then reducing to £5 per hectare.
Jaimie Petchell, asparagus product manager for Hargreaves, estimates that it could bring benefits to as many as 100 producers, which represent the backbone of the industry with production currently valued at around £20 million.
Total production is currently 2,300 acres and expansion is running at around 10 percent a year, according to the AGA.
“Many growers are now using plastic covers to cut the crop earlier, although the bulk continues to be traditionally sold though May and June,” he said.
“However a longer season could add an extra £300-£500 per hectare per day at a time when the popularity of the English crop is rising.”
Hargreaves, which has also been running the largest trial in Europe for the past three years at West Bilney, Norfolk, believe that sales will also get a boost in future and may
ultimately revolutionise retail thinking.
Petchell envisages that it will not be long before there will be named varieties on the shelves which have different tastes and colours.
“So far the industry has been reliant on Dutch Gynlim and Backlim, but now others are showing promise,” he explains.
“They include not just traditional green varieties, but deep purple strains ranging in size from heavy bulbous tips and thick stems to thin fragile ones with spru-like qualities with names like Guelph Millennium from Canada, and Pacific 2000 from New Zealand.”
And it is now possible to cut the waiting time for beds to mature from five to two years and Hargreaves already has a 25 acre site in crown production which should yield two million plants.
