Hargeaves Plants, which represents the intellectual property rights for AspireUK, the New Zealand root analysis validated for the UK at last week’s Asparagus Growers' Association workshop, is expecting a "strong response” from the domestic industry.

"The meeting accounted for some 50 per cent of the current production area," said Hargreaves technical manager Jaimie Petchell. Aspire has already been called the first “fuel gauge” that will indicate opportunities to harvest beyond June 21.

Petchell said producers have until April 30 to take advantage of a 10 per cent discount on the service, which is based on an annual fee of £100, plus a sliding scale of £20 a hectare for the first 20ha then reducing to £5/ha.

The workshop also had the opportunity to see a snapshot of how the system is performing internationally. It has been taken up as far afield as the US, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany and the Netherlands in varying degrees.

But, although AspireUK has met with success, the commercial reality is that increasing competition from sources such as Peru and Thailand are having an equal effect on the marketplace. Higher yields, long seasons, and cheaper production costs are propelling these sources forward, according to Derek Wilson of the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research.

The New Zealand industry is consolidating into fewer, larger growers: "The industry has declined by 50 per cent over the last three to four years,” he said. “Aspire is used to monitor about 200 hectares."

Washington State is in the doldrums, but other states of the US are high up on the Aspire user list. "There are 1,370 hectares being monitored in California, as well as pockets in Indiana, New Jersey and some in Canada," said Wilson. "But the second largest user is Mexico, with 720 hectares.”

Strong interest is being reported on the European Continent, and approaches have been made to introduce Aspire to Peru, although decisions are still in the pending tray.

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