The British Carrot Growers’ Association (BCGA) will hold a Carrot Variety Demonstration and Trade Exhibition on October 9, 2008, at Whitley Bridge, near Goole.
The 2008 BCGA demonstration site has 42 carrot varieties provided by six seed companies: Elsoms, Nickersons, Clause Tezier, Seminis, Nunhems and Rijk Zwaan, and the trials have been conducted by growers Guy Poskitt of Poskitt Carrots Ltd, and Richard Dixon of J Dixon & So. The varieties were drilled on May 12 and establishing the variety plots has been challenging for Poskitt. A severe gale on June 22 caused soil to blow, which reduced the plant population but subsequent intermittent rain and sun has encouraged strong crop growth.
Rising costs of production are uppermost in growers’ minds, with fuel costs adding 1p to every kg of carrots marketed and benchmarking to improve efficiency is BCGA’s theme for 2008 and the exhibition.
Information on how to deal with the new EU pesticide review will be available to help growers at the variety demonstration and trade exhibition, which will run from11am to 4pm. The review could result in the loss of all pesticides approved for use in UK carrot production, adding further to production costs. BCGA recommends all carrot and parsnip growers, along with other commercial companies, lobby their MEPs to explain the effect this review will have on their business and in turn the knock-on effect for consumers.
No comments yet