There are some very good signs for the British horticulture sector at the moment, said Peter Kendall at this year’s NFU conference, but the future make-up of the domestic agriculture industry will very much depend on the attitudes of the major customers.
“If you’re growing fruit or vegetables, you can grow anything,” he said, adding that there are a number of options open to growers wishing to switch their focus.
“If the retailers are not going to pay you a decent price for growing fresh produce, you can grow something else instead,” said Kendall, pointing to the rising wheat prices and attention being paid to biofuels as realistic alternatives.
Also, referring to his belief that the expansion of British production is a moral duty if the world population is to be fed as it itself expands in the next 40 years, he said that concentration on some of the key areas supplying the UK with fruit and vegetables is unacceptable.
“I think the increasing dependence for fruit and vegetable supply on Portugal, Spain and Morocco, where they are effectively mining water is totally unsustainable, and wrong,” said Kendall. “The UK is looking at other parts of Europe and north Africa and that too is unsustainable.
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