With not much spare cash floating around at present, the news that the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is to provide scientists with £7 million to increase crop yields in horticulture, not forgetting potatoes, must be good news. Although as an aside, it seems proportionately a miniscule slice of its £445 million annual budget.

The target has been loosely defined as achieving bigger yields and better quality and will be achieved through partnerships with those within the private sector prepared to contribute additional funding.

So far so good, particularly as the best news is that any decisions will be made starting “with the end product”. This is obviously not just common sense, but critical for a variety of reasons.

However well meaning scientific endeavours may be, there are several caveats, if not pitfalls, to overcome. Changing tastes, for example, mean simply growing current crops may not be an answer in itself.

There is probably not much benefit in producing several thousand acres of brassicas or heavy root crops when the demand is for year-round salads. Whatever comes out of the pipeline must have commercial value, fit into growers’ calendar of crop cycles and, vitally, generate consumer demand.

This execution requires a whole extra area of expertise when it comes to achieving quality. While many excellent crops are already mechanically harvested, packed and graded in the field, they must be located in areas where volume can be maximised because of the right soils and climate.

But even when all the above aspects come together, not forgetting the individual producers’ skill, it also needs the right infrastructure to succeed. The end product today requires a totally integrated operation. Simply growing more, even if such quality standards are achieved, is no guarantee of success.

Cool chains and the various sophisticated methods of storage and packing are just as critical, so ultimately, nature’s benefits arrive on the shelf in pristine condition.

Ironically, more and more retailers want exclusivity as the numerous labels on packs proclaim. In one sense, when considering the horticultural industry as a whole, this can be restrictive to expansion. And there are always imported alternatives.

This element has always meant that the critical balance of supply and demand is forever in question, with the result that even contract growing is not as copper-bottomed as it might appear. Coming up with formulae that support the work of commercial breeders and producers’ own enthusiasm is not as simple as it sounds. -

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