The UK is a world leader in bulb production, growing some of the finest bulbs for both the domestic and international markets. Like many of their counterparts, bulb producers are having to tackle problems varying from energy and labour costs to the loss of chemicals and research constraints. In spite of that, sales remain robust.
At the forefront of UK bulb production is Winchester Growers. The firm is a leading grower/packer of daffodil bulbs, harvesting some 5,000 tonnes of bulbs a year, and supplies a range of high street multiples as well as exporting to Europe and the USA.
The company’s production director is Michael Mann, who is also a member of the HDC’s protected crops panel. Mann tells Commercial Grower that it has been an ‘exceptionally difficult’ summer for bulb growers so far, with the adverse weather having a real impact during the lifting period.
As a result of this, there has been a firming of prices, especially at the bottom end, with the early price of £300-320 per tonne for daffodil bulbs rising by £20-50. Price is always a tough question in the bulb sector, where retailers have fixed price points in mind and it is difficult to alter this.
There are further issues facing UK producers. “Looking ahead, I think there will be an interesting dilemma in the industry,” Mann explains. “Growers will be deciding whether they are going to be daffodil flower growers or bulb growers. The two don’t necessarily go hand in hand. We will probably see some decisions made with a few moving to just growing flowers over a period of time. Though that may not be a bad thing for growers.”
Like most other areas, the bulb sector is not immune from market forces and is seeing a certain degree of consolidation taking place. Mann muses that there is a continuance of the trend for smaller growers - particularly those producing up to 100 acres - to exit the industry. These are consequently being absorbed by the larger growers. “I know four growers have left the industry this year,” he says.
The reasons for this seem to be a combination of the pure economics of the job, and the worrying trend of older growers retiring and no younger generation following on behind. Instead, people are looking for something easier to plant.
On the technical front, there are four key areas that growers are worried about, according to Mann: earworm, the fusariums (basal rot and neck rot) and Narcissus fly.
Although it has not been a hot summer, basal rot has still been a problem due to the wet weather, while there is increasing evidence that Narcissus fly is appearing further north. A significant project is also aiming to gain a greater understanding of scale mite, a problem particularly facing those producers who are growing bulbs for the export market.
Bulb growers have also been particularly suffering with the ever contracting availability of effective pesticides, with the loss of paraquat symptomatic of the shrinking chemical armoury that most growers are having to contend with nowadays. “In terms of usefulness for the grower, if you try to replace paraquat with something else it may be less effective,” maintains Mann.
Another big loss on the horizon - though it is yet to be rubber stamped by Brussels - will be the removal of formaldehyde, with growers seeking to compensate by increasing the temperature of the water in which they sterilise, according to Mann. But the impact of the hot water means that there is a consequent knock-on effect on the volume of first year flowers.
It is little surprise that these concerns are forming a large extent of HDC research and development work currently being undertaken within the Bulbs and Outdoor Flowers Sector. The smallest of the HDC Sector Panels, contributing around three percent of HDC annual income, the panel covers narcissus bulb and flower production, forced bulbs, other bulb crops such as tulips and gladioli, and outdoor cut flowers and foliage.
HDC technical manager for the sector, Lindrea Latham, explains that when crop protection products are lost through EU pesticide reviews, it means a lot of money has to be diverted into finding alternatives to fill the void. At present, she added, HDC is putting quite a bit of work into finding alternatives to formaldehyde, as well as for a number of other herbicides that have also been lost.
In particular, research is looking at trying to gain a better understanding of particular pests and diseases in a bid to reduce the number of sprays from weekly to perhaps two or three times per season.
Away from crop protection, there is work going on focusing on increasing quality and extending shelf life. The various projects look predominantly to cover the needs of growers in the key bulb producing regions of Scotland, Leicestershire and Cornwall.
Among the bulb-related research listed in the HDC’s current projects are epidemiology of the bulb-scale mite; an online, low-cost, non invasive sensor of basal rot in narcissus bulbs; alternatives to the use of formaldehyde in hot-water treatment tanks for the control of stem nematode and fusarium basal rot; and integrated control of bulb-scale mite in Narcissus.
The sector receives around £60,000 per year to spend on research, but Latham stresses that there is also considerable frustration over the diminishing government R&D support, a situation which has led to the loss of a number of scientists in recent years that have not been replaced.
As a result, when looking for scientists to carry out the research, they are even considering looking beyond the UK for personnel, with the Dutch R&D programme looking particularly strong. “We are pretty disappointed by the effect of the government’s spending cuts,” Latham says.
Adrian Jansen, a director at Lingarden Bulbs, says that from a production point of view three weeks were lost at the start of the lifting season due to the weather. This has led to the season running a bit late, but he adds that retail customers have been understanding. But he remains upbeat: “The industry generally has coped quite well with the challenges,” he maintains. “Trade is quite buoyant, which is a real improvement on the last three to five years when people have been a bit in the doldrums.”
Jansen adds his voice to that of Michael Mann in pointing out the number of smaller bulb growers who have left the bulb production trade, in some cases because they did not have the capital to invest in new machinery. This is leading to further consolidation in the industry.
The vast majority of Lingarden’s product is exported, with most of this going to the United States and near EU, although some bulbs are packaged in the Netherlands and sent on for the East European market.
Jansen also shares the fears over the diminishing chemical armoury that bulb growers are able to call upon. “Bulbs are a minor crop in relation to cereals and the like, so people don’t register products just for our use. So we are having to look elsewhere,” he says.
Hillier Nurseries’ Andy McIndoe, who has recently penned the Unwins Book of Bulbs, says that from a retail point of view, bulbs represents one of the steadier categories that is less susceptible to the vagararies of the weather. “Regardless of the weather you can still have a good bulb season. People do buy into them on an annual basis,” he maintains.
In terms of varietal sales, McIndoe says that the popularity of the basic yellow daffodil has been diminishing, while tulips, dwarf narcissi and novelties are on the increase. Colour-wise, darker plums, purples and dusky pinks are more in vogue that the reds and yellows.
The Unwins book has been written to help inspire gardeners to plant bulbs, recommending the tried and tested varieties of flower bulbs that will deliver the best performance in a particular situation, and offering simple advice on growing them. It also introduces new varieties to add further colour in spring.
McIndoe hopes the book will provide inspiration for gardeners to keep experimenting with bulbs. The Dutch, of course, have been promoting their bulbs for some time through the promotional vehicle The Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Centre (NFBIC), which has organised a raft of initiatives over the years to turn the public on to the idea of bulbs.
NFBIC has introduced a whole range of initiatives for the second half of this year, many of which centre upon efforts to get children planting. One nationwide project, entitled ‘Kids create Eden’, is being co-ordinated in association with the Eden Project to offer primary schools across the country the chance to win a trip to the Eden Project in Cornwall and have their own design planted in bulbs on site.
Participants have to design a planting scheme for an area of land between two and five square metres in size at their school, with five designs being shortlisted and a winner selected.
But that is only the start of NFBIC’s autumn promotional programme. The centre has been encouraging children to plant their name or initials with daffodils or crocus so they can see their name appear when the bulbs bloom in spring.
NFBIC looks to promote a different bulb each season, with this year’s selection being Tulip Ballerina. The bulb, which will flower in spring 2008, looks like ‘a glowing flame at the end of a match with its apricot-tangerine bloom’, according to the centre. NFBIC’s Lucas Boreel described it as ‘extremely unusual for a tulip - not only because of its shape, but also because of its beautiful scent. It is extremely versatile, working brilliantly in both containers and planting in borders. It will add colour and the wow factor to any garden or outside space.”
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