Mark Hall, grounds manager at agricultural institution Harper Adams University, has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's 2013 Birthday Honours.
Hall will receive the honour for services to land-based higher education and his work with the National Vegetable Society.
The 52-year-old told FPJ: “I am grateful to the university for putting me forward for this award and honoured to receive it.
“Vegetable growing is my hobby and it is that hobby that led me into a career in horticulture.”
Hall has also helped raise the profile of the university at events and was the co-creator of a silver-gilt winning garden at the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show.
'We are delighted that Mark has been recognised in this way because he works so hard to maintain the high quality of the university grounds which are so important for our academic work,' said Dr David Llewellyn, Harper Adams' vice-chancellor.
He added: “The beautiful flower beds that greet you as you enter the campus, the pristine lawns and hedges and the landscaped areas that surround our buildings are often commented upon by staff, students and our many visitors.'
An award-winning vegetable grower, Hall has a been a member of the National Vegetable Society executive committee since 1991 and iscurrently the national assistant secretary and vice-chairman of the Midlands branch.
Other fresh produce industry honorees in the Queen's birthday honours list include Sarah Elizabeth Porter, a member of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise Advisory Group. Porter received an MBE for services to agriculture and rural development within Northern Ireland.
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