House of Lords Horticulture report.
The House of Lords Horticulture Sector Committee recently published their report ‘Sowing the Seeds: A Blooming UK Horticulture Sector’.
They presented the findings of their recent horticulture enquiry, to which some BTGA members contributed, and laid out recommendations for government.
Find brief summary of the key points below:
They highlighted a lack of cross-departmental working, poor ministerial oversight and the lack of a dedicated horticultural strategy.
The relentless competition between supermarkets to keep prices low, squeezes grower returns in the face of spiralling input costs and makes some crops unviable to produce.
There is a long-term skills and education gap, leading to reliance on a poorly planned and managed seasonal migrant worker scheme.
There is a lack of long-term funding for research and development, particularly for automation and robotics, including strategic core funding for key institutions.