Category Archives: HortNews

New pollinator projects announced

A year on from its launch, Environment Minister George Eustice has praised the efforts of thousands of people to support the National Pollinator Strategy.

Speaking at a Bee Summit organised by Friends of the Earth and the Women’s Institute on Monday (9 November), Mr Eustice said, “Protecting our pollinators is a priority for this government. They are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production.”

As part of this Defra has published a new implementation plan for the strategy. Defra has also provided £20,000 in grants to five Local Nature Partnership projects in Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Durham and Surrey.

The NFU urged government to recognise the role farmers played in protecting bees. NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “Farmers do fantastic work for pollinators covering thousands of acres of the British countryside. This substantial contribution benefits local biodiversity and brings valuable and vital pollination to crops.”

Photo Credit: NFU

The post New pollinator projects announced appeared first on Hort News.

Bromoxynil not a direct replacement for Totril

With the loss of the herbicide Totril on 31 August 2016 many onion growers are considering using bromoxynil which has recently been approved for use in the crop. However Andy Richardson of Allium & Brassica Agronomy warned that it could not be used as a straight replacement.

Growers need to consider the different label recommendations of the two products containing bromoxynil (Butryflow SC and Buctril EC) he warned. One reason is that due to the higher risk of crop scorch compared to ioxynil (Totril) and its SC formulation, Butraflow cannot be applied to set crops. It also has a timing restriction and can only be used between 1 May and 30 September, so may be unsuitable for early crops. Buctril currently has no such restrictions.

“We’ve been looking at both products and we’ve been looking at Buctril since 2010. Based on our trials Buctril may be more useful to onion growers than Butryflow),” explained Andy.

The post Bromoxynil not a direct replacement for Totril appeared first on Hort News.

New diagnostic test for downy mildew

An AHDB Horticulture-funded study into reducing the cost of downy mildew control in onion crops has resulted in a new diagnostic test which will be available for growers to trial next year.

Dr Alison Wakeham of the University of Worcester explained the scientific work which has gone into developing the MILIONCAST (MILDEW on ONION FIRECAST) model which provides predictions of downy mildew sporulation based on environmental conditions.

However this cannot determine the disease is actually present, which is where the new hand held test comes in. An in-field air sampling device is collected and, “A five minute stick test shows if the disease is present in the [air]sample and at what level. As the level of the disease increases the strength of the line depletes,” explained Dr Wakeham.

In order to prevent different interpretations of the result due to differences in people’s eyesight a reader is used, although phone apps to read similar tests are becoming available. In trials using the test and the forecast model reduced the number of spays by half while maintaining control levels of the disease.

The post New diagnostic test for downy mildew appeared first on Hort News.

Defra to fight for UK farmers in Europe

The UK is committed to scientific evidence in the face of potentially damaging European legislation. That was the message from Kathleen Kelliher of Defra when she addressed the UK Onion & Carrot Conference on Wednesday 4 October.

“Most of these decisions are made in Brussels and while Defra uses science-based decision making, sadly we cannot promise that decisions on future EU approvals will be based on sound science, because in some cases the current EU criteria are not scientific,” she said.

“The UK has arguably been the leading member state in pressing for science-based regulation of these chemicals. Our calls for an impact assessment have at last been heeded by the Commission.

“Defra supports regulation to protect people and the environment from adverse effects from pesticides; however it is right for all of use to be aware of the costs and benefits of regulation. We agree that the EU regime has features that carry very significant cost for limited benefits.

“We think [potential pesticides]should be assessed by a proper risk assessment,” she added.

The post Defra to fight for UK farmers in Europe appeared first on Hort News.

Irish crisps enter US market

Irish potato growers the Keogh family, who have farmed at Westpalstown in County Dublin for the past 200 years, are growing in the international luxury crisp market with export sales of their products increasing.

“Over the years my family has grown tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweetcorn, barley, wheat, onions and potatoes,” said Tom Keogh, who farms with his brother Peter and their sons Tom, Ross and Derek. “In the last 20 years we have completely specialised in potatoes. We grow about 400 acres and we have a network of 25 growers from Wexford up to County Donegal.”

At present the crisps factory, which employs around 27 people, is producing 1.5 tonnes of product every day. The range features seven different flavours in 50g, 125g and multi-pack offerings. The distinctive crunch is achieved by dropping the cooking temperature by about 25 degrees for part of the process, before bringing it back up to 150 degrees.

As well as featuring the family’s iconic branding, each packet of crisps carries information for the consumer to use the company’s innovative ‘spud nav.’ “Each bag has the field where we grew the potatoes, the variety and the person that cooked them, as well as the best before date,” explains Tom.

The post Irish crisps enter US market appeared first on Hort News.

Bumblebees could deliver organic pesticides

A Vancouver-based start-up has plans to use bumblebees, already many growers best friend, to deliver natural pesticides and beneficial fungi directly to plants.

The company aims to commercialise technology developed by researchers at the University of Guelph. This uses a tray filled with a patented mix of natural, beneficial microbes, which is then placed into the beehives placed in the crops for pollination.

“Imagine you have an apple orchard,” said Michael Collinson, president and CEO of Bee Vectoring Technology. “Because apple trees have a very large canopy, even though you may spray it and use a special type of spray that doesn’t go everywhere, you still won’t touch every bloom. Whereas the bees deliver product every single day, to every single bloom.”

The company says it has conducted extensive testing to make sure the process is safe for bees and uses materials in the powder that bees would naturally come across. “The bees are actually already carrying it, but they don’t carry it that often,” adds Collinson. “So what we’re doing as a company, what happens once in a while in nature, we’re making it happen consistently.”

The post Bumblebees could deliver organic pesticides appeared first on Hort News.

Fruit supplier at centre of labour allegations

A recent undercover exposé of migrant workers at FW Mansfied & Son by Channel 4 News alleged that Romanian workers lived in ‘appalling conditions’ supplied by labour provider Pro-Force.

Channel 4 Business Editor Siobhan Kennedy said, ‘One Pro-Force manager filmed undercover tells the workers they must pay for gas and electricity… in addition, workers have to pay £5 a day for the shuttle bus that takes them to and from the field and pack house – again more potential income for Pro-Force. On one occasion, workers ask for a short break to have water. We witness the boss threatening to throw them all out and replace them with other workers.’ Channel 4’s report showed images of faeces-encrusted toilets; soiled, sodden carpets; mould-infested walls and dirty showers.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority, together with customers Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer all launched investigations. Aldi and Waitrose also suspended their orders from Nickle Farm.

However, both FW Mansfied and Pro-Force hit back at the allegations. Matthew Jarrett, Managing Director, Pro-Force Limited commented, “Pro-Force operates in a highly regulated sector, and is under constant scrutiny by third party auditors. We are monitored continually, and have never failed any of the numerous unannounced audits carried out, demonstrating our best practice in all aspects of our business. He said that the footage had been, “edited together to create the impression Channel 4 News clearly wanted to portray.”

W Mansfield & Son described the Channel 4 News report as ‘false’, saying it painted a ‘highly selective and completely distorted and unrepresentative picture of our business.’

The post Fruit supplier at centre of labour allegations appeared first on Hort News.

Parsnips used to launch war on waste

Television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall used parsnips as an example of the waste in the food industry in the first of his two Hugh’s War on Waste programmes which was shown on BBC One on Monday 2 November.

He visited the Hammond family at Tattersett Farm in Norfolk where he saw 20 tons of parsnips a week wasted as they did not meet Morrisons’ specifications. Olly Hammond, who runs the family business with his mother Debbie, told the programme, “If we sent in these parsnips they would be rejected and returned the next day.”

Although the Hammonds were initially happy to appear on camera, they later withdrew from a follow-up piece, allegedly due to pressure from the supermarket, which also refused to discuss the issue on camera during the first episode. In a statement the company said it had previously tried to sell wonky parsnips but customers had not bought them.

The second episode of Hugh’s War on Waste will be screened on BBC One at 9 pm on Monday 9 November.

The post Parsnips used to launch war on waste appeared first on Hort News.

Extending the UK asparagus season

A new industry-funded joint project aims to increase the UK asparagus season.

Funded by Innovate UK, BBSRC and the asparagus industry, the £600,000 initiative is being led by Cranfield University, with partners Cobrey Farms and ICA (International Controlled Atmosphere).

“The project is about extending the storage life of UK asparagus by up to six weeks with innovative dynamically controlled atmosphere technology usually applied to apples,” explained Professor Leon Terry, who heads Cranfield University’s Soil and Agrifood Institute, adding that his 20-strong postharvest team is one of the largest in the EU. “We are basically transferring that technology to asparagus and using some of the knowledge acquired to extend the UK season.”

The project will investigate the feasibility of using ICA’s SafePod system, currently being trialled in the apple industry, on asparagus. “We’re investigating an idea and that doesn’t mean it’ll work, but if it does it will be fantastic – it will be a huge step forward,” said John Chinn of Cobrey farms which currently produces almost a third of the UK asparagus crop. “We know it works with apples and blueberries, but they have a low respiration rate in comparison with asparagus.”

The post Extending the UK asparagus season appeared first on Hort News.

UK-grown sweet potatoes harvested

The first crop of UK-grown sweet potatoes has been harvested for supermarket Asda by Watts Farms at Hill Farm in Farningham, Kent.

Joe Cottingham, Watts Farms’ group director told The Guardian, “We have been successful in growing sweet potatoes outdoors in Kent because of careful variety trial work and selection for frost resistance, which the crop is susceptible to,” Cottingham explained. “They are grown in light soils through a mulch which allows us to get warmer soil temperatures which produce good-sized potatoes. We give the potatoes all the water they need through drippers underneath the mulch which takes them from small plants to much larger plants bearing fruit in five months.”

The company grows and packs more than 60 types of produce, including herbs and chillies, from 10 farms in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Kent and Essex. “Sweet potatoes have been a challenge but we have finally got there after experimenting with a number of different varieties,” added Cottingham.

A white Caribbean sweet potato was rejected as “too sweet” before the company focused its efforts on a hardy red-skinned, orange-fleshed variety. “We are hugely proud to be delivering this UK first… Sweet potatoes are now a UK dinner table favourite, and these taste and look exactly the same as those grown overseas, so to have them from home soil is a great feat for us!” he concluded.

 

The post UK-grown sweet potatoes harvested appeared first on Hort News.