The British Growers’ Association has said the decrease in land area used for commercial fruit and vegetable production is “no cause for alarm”.
A recently published Defra report said that the total land used for commercial fruit and vegetables has dropped from 157,000ha to 149,000ha, a decrease of five per cent.
The drop was primarily caused by a decrease in outdoor production areas of vegetables and salads which fell from 123,000ha to 116,000ha (six per cent) between 2012 and 2013. Glasshouse production areas for the same category were up by 3.6 per cent.
Land use for orchards decreased by 2.9 per cent, and small fruit production area was up 2.7 per cent.
James Hallett, chief executive of the British Growers’ Association, said that land area is not necessarily a straight reflection of yield: “The fact that it is down isn’t necessarily a cause for alarm.'
He added: “The long and short of it is that people have been more cautious after last year in case the weather was worse than it turned out to be. They are managing their risks by planting less.”
Hallett said the rise in glasshouse production area reflected the fact that more glass has been commissioned this year. “Top fruit is the one I’m surprised about as generally speaking acreage has been going up over recent years.”
He said: “I imagine it was something to do with the ground still being wet last autumn so people didn’t plant as much.”
Defra’s report said that figures relate to land usage on 1 June 2013, and are not necessarily good indicators of annual production as more than one crop may be obtained in each season or crops may overlap in two seasons.
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