Monthly Archives: April 2016

Kent nursery produces first UK strawberries

The first English strawberries in 2016 went on sale in Tesco’s store in Faversham on 2 March after being harvested by S & A Produce at its Hernhill nursery nearby.

The sample of new early variety Fleurette helped S & A Produce, one of the biggest greenhouse producers of strawberries in the country, to win the annual race to produce the first strawberries this year.

Tesco strawberry buyer Henry Maulik said, “There’s nothing quite so quintessentially English as the taste of sweet, soft and juicy home-grown strawberries to help banish the winter blues. We have worked with one of our long-standing growers to replicate the perfect growing conditions of strawberries at the height of the UK season to help customers enjoy Britain’s favourite fruit as early as possible.

“The arrival of the first English strawberries is great news for those yearning for longer, brighter days because it not only signifies the start of the British growing season but also heralds the start of springtime.”

Photo Caption: The sample of Fleurette strawberries

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Kent nursery produces first UK strawberries appeared first on Hort News on 22 March 2016.

Composters warned of Xylella threat

To help protect EU Member States against the introduction of Xylella fastidiosa, EU emergency legislation has been introduced, which includes requirements to protect against introductions from non-EU countries, as well as from those parts of the EU where it is has been detected.

As well as introducing requirements for imports of non-EU plants and the movement of ‘specified plants’ (which include the confirmed hosts of Xylella fastidiosa in the EU and further afield), speaking at the annual Organics Recycling Group conference on 3 March, Mike Dennison, veterinary officer at the APHA said, “There is a new plant disease in the news. It is quite possible this could have an effect in terms of composting which needs to be controlled.” He suggested that this could mean composts from at risk sources needed to be heat treated, for example through In-Vessel Composting or anaerobic digestion.

Photo Caption: Dieback caused by Xylella

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The post Composters warned of Xylella threat appeared first on Hort News on 17 March 2016.

Cornerways Nurseries gets robotic tow-cars

CambridgeHOK have just completed a new project at Cornerways Nursery, which has seen the nursery’s traditional harvesting and packaging operation modified by installing automatic tow-cars to move the product from the glasshouse to the packaging and distribution area.

CambridgeHOK said, “Following extensive discussions with Cornerways nursery we have arrived at a scheme that has significant benefits and is predicted to result in acceptable payback timescales for the business.

This project required the installation of 2,800 metres of induction loop to act as a guide for the 6 battery driven tow-cars. New speed doors which open and close automatically as the tow-car and its attached harvesting carts approaches have been installed.

A total of 90 harvesting carts have been supplied which all have their own electronic identity, allowing the harvested product from each row to be traced back to a central weighing station where information will be recorded automatically via Priva FS performance system. Once the product is weighed, the tow-carts will move into the packhouse for manual unloading and variety segregation.

Patrick Harte, the General Manager at Cornerways Nursery commented, “We were once again delighted to work with Cambridge HOK on another major investment for the business. The install and commissioning were far easier than we had hoped and whilst we expected a period of learning it has been quickly integrated into our way of working and become very intuitive for our staff.”

Photo Credit: CambridgeHOK

The post Cornerways Nurseries gets robotic tow-cars appeared first on Hort News on 16 March 2016

Sainsbury’s reports rise in sales

Sainsbury’s has revealed its first quarterly rise in sales for more than two years.

It said that its sales through established stores and online rose 0.1% in the nine weeks ending 12 March. The figures included a 14% rise in online grocery sales, 10% rise in sales of clothing and 11% lift in sales of entertainment products, such as CDs and DVDs.

Of particular interest to growers will be news that food price deflation slowed at the retailer to 1 to 1.5% from 1.5% and 2% over the previous six months. The company said underlying sales at its large supermarkets were flat to slightly down, with the vast majority of growth coming from online, but that products tapping into new foodie trends like ‘courgetti’ (spaghetti made from courgettes) and ‘boodles’ (noodles made from butternut squash) had helped to attract new customers.

Photo Credit: Sainsbury’s

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Potato growers warned over risk of rhizoctonia at emergence

An increasing incidence of nematodes in potato field soils risks rising levels of Rhizoctonia infection hitting emerging crops, and affecting plants right through to tuber quality at harvest, warns Spud Agronomy specialist, John Sarup.

Speaking at a Syngenta Potato Science Live event, Yorkshire-based agronomist, Mr Sarup, reported that nematode feeding damage on root stolons allows the soil-borne Rhizoctionia pathogen to get into plants more easily – with infection resulting in stem and stolon pruning that delays emergence.

“If growth is further delayed by wet or cold soils, the effects can be severe,” he advised. “However, Rhizoctonia is a relatively weak pathogen that we have seen can be effectively controlled in the soil.

“Delayed and patchy emergence has serious implications for crop management,” he added. ”Whilst the canopy appears to recover over the season, it inevitably has a consequence at harvest, with variable tuber size and maturity.” Tubers from Rhizoctonia affected plants are also typically more cracked, split and knobbly, as well as suffering Black Scurf affecting skin finish.

Syngenta trials last year, using Amistar in-furrow in a commercial potato crop, resulted in over 60% reduction in visible Rhizoctonia Black Scurf tuber infection, compared to untreated. Furthermore, there almost 40% reduction in Black Dot on tubers. Overall, there was an eight t/ha (16%) increase in yield, worth around £1120/ha, says Syngenta Technical Manager Douglas Dyas. “Control of Rhizoctonia is also paramount for crop quality and consistency for tubers destined for processing.”

Photo Credit: Syngenta

The post Potato growers warned over risk of rhizoctonia at emergence appeared first on Hort News on 11 March 2016.

New legislation on organic fertilisers proposed

The European Commission is due to publish a legislative proposal which will recognise digestate from anaerobic digestion and compost as fertilisers under EU law.

Only mineral fertilisers are currently under the Fertilisers Regulation of EU law meaning they can be freely traded across the EU market, something that it is not possible for organic fertilisers which are subject to diverse national legislation.

This revision aims to create a level playing field between the two sectors and opening up the possibility to trade digestate and compost freely across the EU. It is expected that the regime would run in parallel to existing national legislation on organic fertilisers, offering the possibility to producers to comply with national rules if the product is intended for use within the country’s borders.

The proposal is expected to be formally published by the European Commission at the end of March. Once published it will be formally considered, and may be amended, by the European Parliament and the Council.

Photo Caption: Applying compost

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

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Canadian farmers return to vegetable production

The soaring costs of imports from the United States and a weak currency is helping Canadian farmers cash in on some of the highest vegetable prices the country has seen in years.

With prices for the traditional Canadian arable crops of wheat and canola (oilseed rape) seeing falls of almost 10 per cent on the previous year, many farmers are seeing vegetable production as a lucrative alternative. One carrot grower about 120 km southwest of Saskatoon commented, “Per acre, there’s nothing quite like it right now. You can make good pocket money off 50 acres of land.”

Fresh vegetable and fruit prices jumped 18 and 13 per cent respectively in January year over year, according to Statistics Canada. Vegetable plantings in Saskatchewan may grow by up to 10 per cent this year according to Bob Purton, president of the Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers’ Association.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the value of carrots reached $5.4 million last year, the highest since 1997.

Photo Caption: Vegetables are replacing canola for many Canadian farmers

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The post Canadian farmers return to vegetable production appeared first on Hort News on 9 March 2016.

Ukraine bans Spanish leafy vegetables

From the start of this month (March 2016) Ukraine has banned the importation of leafy vegetables from Spain.

According to the Director of the Phytosanitary Inspection Service of Ukraine, Vitali Romanchenko, the measure is necessary because of “repeated violation of phytosanitary protocols by Spanish products at border controls.”

The decision affects broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, endive, escarole and cabbage, as well as other varieties of Baby Leaf salad, which Spanish exporters supplied to Ukraine both fresh and refrigerated.

As Spain is Europe’s largest producer of brassicas and similar crops over the winter, Ukraine is likely to seek alternatives sources in North Africa. “If Spain is not suited to export to Ukraine, it remains to be seen whether other countries outside the EU will be able to guarantee the food safety standards Ukraine demands,” said one Spanish exporter.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

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Pollinator decline threatens food security

According to a UN agency, a growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven towards extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a two-year global study shows that this decline threatens millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of food supplies. However it also highlights a number of ways to effectively safeguard pollinator populations.

“Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security,” said Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca, Ph.D., co-chair of the assessment and Senior Professor at the University of São Paulo. “Their health is directly linked to our own well-being.” There are more than 20,000 species of wild bees alone, plus many species of butterflies, flies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other animals that contribute to pollination.

According to IPBES, the volume of agricultural production dependent on animal pollination has increased by 300 per cent during the past 50 years, but pollinator-dependent crops show lower growth and stability in yield than crops that do not depend on pollinators.

The assessment found that pesticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides, threaten pollinators worldwide, although the long-term effects are still unknown. A pioneering study conducted in farm fields showed that one neonicotinoid insecticide had a negative effect on wild bees, but the effect on managed honeybees was less clear. “While gaps remain in our knowledge of pollinators, we have more than enough evidence to act,” Prof. Imperatriz-Fonseca said.

Photo Caption: Bees are just one important pollinator

Photo Credit: Pixart Bay

The post Pollinator decline threatens food security appeared first on Hort News on 4 March 2016.

Fyffes records record rise in profits

Ireland-based Fyffes Plc has reported revenue growth of 7% for the last year, mainly thanks to growth in bananas and melons.

Fyffes said EBITDA was up 16.4% at €56.1 million, representing the group’s seventh consecutive year of earnings growth.

“There was adverse weather in the early part of the year in the production regions which increased costs and resulted in some quality issues in certain varieties for part of the season. This had a modest adverse impact on average selling prices,” Fyffes said.

“Towards the end of the year, the Group purchased additional melon farming assets in Guatemala which contributed to a mid-single digit increase in volumes in this category in the year and is expected to result in a 25% increase in volumes on a full year basis in 2016.

It added that it had, “achieved a strong result in the banana category in 2015, with a mid-teens percentage increase in operating profits. This was delivered despite a significant currency headwind, with the US Dollar strengthening by 16% and 7% against the euro and Sterling respectively during the year. The impact of this was partly mitigated by reductions in key input costs, further logistical efficiencies combined with lower fuel costs, operational efficiencies in the Group’s distribution network and reductions in other import costs.”

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

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