The crisis affecting the UK horticulture industry following prolonged rainfall deepened this week after flash floods wiped out swathes of crops.
The feared shortages of UK supplies in supermarkets has now begun, with at least one store reportedly placing a sign saying that due to the weather, it has been necessary to import broccoli from the United States.
There are real concerns that the washout in areas of the country could lead to supermarket shelves being left bare of UK produce for weeks at a time.
Potatoes have been particularly hard hit this week, with large areas of crops under water. There is now serious long-term damage being forecast in the nation’s largest main crop region of eastern England, with at least 15 percent yield losses.
A knock-on problem for potatoes has been the widespread development of blight, with growers forced to spray as often as every seven days instead of the usual 14 just to keep the disease at bay. In many cases, waterlogged land has even made it impossible to get into the fields to spray at all.
“Growers are spraying against blight, but it is proving very difficult to keep on top of the diseases. It remains to be seen how the situation develops,” said NFU senior food and farming adviser, Simon Fisher.
Organic growers have suffered even further from the disease, as - unable to combat blight with chemicals - they have seen their entire crops wiped out in some instances.
Graham Nichols, the NFU board for horticulture’s potato representative, warned that retailers might start turning their attention to imported produce if UK growers are unable to meet demand.
There are also increasing concerns about storage capability and how many potatoes could be lost in store.
However there was some relief for growers this week with the announcement by Tesco that it would be relaxing its specifications on certain top fruit to allow hail damaged crops to continue to be sold through the retailer.
In a sign that the severity of the damage is being recognised by the multiples, Tesco said that it understood and sympathised with growers’ predicament.
Elsewhere growers of virtually all edible crops have been reporting major disruption and crop losses. The Processed Vegetable Growers Association said that the English vining pea crop is now down to 56 percent of original projections, with little hope of these being scaled up.
Market Intelligence Services, which monitors retail prices for produce, said that broccoli had reached £3.29 per kilo in Somerfield, with the other retailers not far behind. Indeed, significant price hikes have been noted across many vegetable crops in the past week.
Lettuce growers have been reporting major difficulties in planting, while top fruit growers are continuing to assess their marketable yields following heavy hail damage.
The NFU has also launched a weekly weather service, updating members on the latest weather conditions and advice on how to combat the conditions.
No comments yet