The English top-fruit industry can justifiably claim to have one of the most rapid adoption rates for new science, said Lord Selborne, top-fruit grower and past chairman of the Marden Fruit Show Society.
Lord Selborne was speaking at a celebration lunch to mark the 75th anniversary of the National Fruit Show, and said the scientific uptake spreads across the choice of new varieties being planted, production methods and storage techniques “It has never been a problem transferring this type of information through to the grower,” he said, “which is a demonstration of the application of research and development in a rapid way.”
He did sound a warning, however, over how the scientific base and R&D available to the industry is shrinking. “It is a pale shadow of what it used to be 20 years ago,” he said, stressing that despite the credit crunch, “investment has to go on if we are to remain competitive”.
