UK horticulture must not wait for government alone to deliver growth, delegates at Fruit Focus heard, as industry leaders highlighted new collaborative initiatives on research, energy and water management.
Speaking during the NFU-sponsored Fruit Forum, members of Defra's Horticulture Expert Grower Group said competitiveness, rather than production volume alone, should sit at the heart of the forthcoming horticulture growth strategy.
Fruit Focus brings together growers, suppliers, researchers, agronomists, technology providers and industry leaders – and the power of that breadth of specialisms was a big theme at the event.
Attendees at a new venue for the show’s 40th anniversary edition, Bradbourne House, East Malling, heard a clear message: the future of UK horticulture will not solely depend on the actions and policies of central government. Successfully uniting everyone in the sector, from every link in the supply chain to research and tech institutions and NGOs, will be an equally important part of moving forward.
Government backing will nonetheless be vital as the sector shapes its future, and recent work towards a promised UK horticulture growth strategy was high on the agenda at a panel discussion between members of the Horticulture Expert Grower Group, the cross-sector body tasked by Defra to help develop the plan.
“It should be about ensuring competitiveness, with growth being a by-product of competitive businesses.”
NFU Senior Policy Specialist (Horticulture and Potatoes) Christine McDowell
Growth strategy focuses on competitiveness
The discussion at the NFU-sponsored Fruit Forum was chaired by NFU Senior Policy Specialist Christine McDowell and featured Simon Conway, chair of the British Tomato Growers Association, new chair of British Cucumber and Pepper Growers’ Association, and CEO of Horticulture Crop Protection UK. It also heard from Ali Capper, chair of British Apples and Pears, John Walgate, chief executive of the British Growers Association, and Nick Marston, chair of British Berry Growers.
The Expert Grower Group is looking at the policies that are currently preventing UK horticulture from expanding, with Christine explaining that the government’s growth plan should be based on the priorities listed in the NFU’s own growth strategy. These priorities include access to labour, crop protection and water, and affordable, sustainable energy.
But Christine made the point that, while there is clearly a long list of areas that need government action, “there will be some things that the supply chain can do, and actually there will be some things that growers can do; it’s not all focused on the government’s role”.
She added that the growth plan must focus on competitiveness rather than simply increasing production. “In terms of growth, we don’t necessarily mean growth being volume driven,” she said. “From our perspective, it should be about ensuring competitiveness, with growth being a by-product of competitive businesses.”
Ali is already proving what can be achieved through proactive, independent action.
She revealed that a new collaboration is in the pipeline that will bring together research institutes, including NIAB and Harper Adams, and Lincoln and Warwick universities, to discuss joint work on grower-led research and development.
Ali said there had been some good models in the past, such as the HDC HortLINK, where growers on the frontline fed in the problems and issues they were dealing with. Highlighting what has already been achieved when growers work together, she added: “AHDB wasn’t perfect, but what it did do was bring some coordination to our R&D efforts, and I’m really proud of what fruit producers, both berries and apples, are achieving today – particularly around pests and disease resilience – because both sectors have picked that up and kept it going.
“It’s been really hard work, and there have been a lot of late nights to get us there, but we need to see that happening across the whole of UK horticulture, through a good governance model that involves both the government – because I’m hoping for some funding – and our academic community, to ensure that we are landing the right primary applied research. Growers know the issues they want to address, they know the big economic levers that they need to fix.”
Industry pushes for energy reform
Taking a similarly innovative, grassroots approach, Simon has been focusing on local action after “hitting a brick wall” with Defra.
In response to recent increases in standing charges, he’s been engaging with local MPs to help encourage central government (specifically the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) to classify controlled environment horticulture as an energy-intensive industry – a long-held NFU ask, too.
He said: “We’re now trying to get support from MPs of all parties where they’ve got large glasshouse operations within their constituencies to try and get this pushed up the agenda, because it’s gone a bit quiet, and Defra sort of said ‘it’s too difficult now’. We haven’t yet got anything changed, but unless we do this, we won’t get the growth we can achieve.”
Water planning through collaboration
Water was another area where Fruit Forum visitors heard a strong message on the importance of collective action. Amid increasing pressure on UK supplies, NFU water policy is focusing on coordinated planning and better communication between industry, regulators and policy makers, said NFU water resources specialist Mark Betson. For example, against the backdrop of the EA's (Environment Agency’s) ongoing review of abstraction licences, the NFU is facilitating coordination between the EA and growers to avoid a repeat of last year’s sudden water abstraction licence cessations, which caused severe operational challenges for farmers in East Anglia.
Following a successful trial in that region, this collaborative approach has provided the EA with vital feedback from the ground, while giving growers the early warning needed to successfully anticipate and manage water availability changes.
In a similar vein, Lee Dance, organisational director for Water Resources Southeast, explained that the alliance of water companies is currently “looking to see how we can bring agriculture, horticulture, and public water supply together”.
Research partnerships gain momentum
He explained that, by working together, “we can start to look at mapping the areas where there are shortfalls, potentially in abstraction licences, right next to licences that may have surpluses”. He added: “There’s work we can do to try and open that up and make those connections and we’re producing a regional plan.”
Dr Sam Hughes, senior water and land stewardship officer for the South East Rivers Trust gave examples where his organisation had successfully worked with the horticulture sector to help growers conserve water.
Oftentimes, this has involved growers tapping into funding available through regional initiatives that they might not have been aware of. For example, the trust has worked with Mockbeggar Farm in Kent to help it tap into the Southern Water Business Partnership Fund to invest in rainwater harvesting from polytunnels.
Government action is undeniably the main catalyst needed for long-term growth, but the relentless hard work, close collaboration, and late nights dedicated by the sector and all those involved in it ensure that, even in the face of political stagnation, unity can still spark progress.
