Potato, lettuce and strawberry growers are being asked to help with a “ground-breaking” research project to quantify the economic cost of crop losses.
Project leaders WRAP and the Warwick Crop Centre said there is currently a lack of good evidence of the scale of on-farm crop losses, that stem from factors including changes to consumer demand, poor weather and labour shortages.
The work aims to identify opportunities for the food industry to reduce crop losses and create a more sustainable, profitable fruit and vegetable sector.
As part of the project, a sample of growers visited by researchers will also learn how the cost of crop losses on their farm compare to others in the study. An industry-wide survey will then be promoted at the end of the 2015 harvest to enable a much wider cross-section of growers to contribute their experiences.
Jeremy Boxall, commercial manager at LEAF, which is helping steer the project, said: “Tackling food loss and waste has become a major priority for the food industry and is of increasing interest to consumers and policymakers.
“This much-needed research will help improve our understanding of the economic cost of these losses to growers – and identify how we can tackle this complex issue together.
“LEAF would like to encourage growers to participate in the study and play an important role in creating a more sustainable and profitable fresh produce sector”.
The work is being delivered jointly by WRAP, The Warwick Crop Centre and research consultancy 3Keel.
For more information on how to get involved growers should contact Rob Lillywhite at The Warwick Crop Centre on Robert.Lillywhite@warwick.ac.uk or 02476 575060.
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