The market for fruit and vegetables
Earlier this year market research experts, Mintel, produced a review of the fruit and vegetables market for Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (RoI). The following are some of the main findings:
- In 2013 the retail market for fruit and vegetables across Ireland was worth €1.6 billion. The NI market amounted to €492 million or 31 per cent while the RoI market was worth €1.08 billion, with vegetables the dominant sector.
- The value of the NI market grew steadily between 2011 and 2013, driven by price inflation. In NI fruit prices increased by 26 per cent and vegetable prices by * 11 per cent between 2009 and 2013. This lead to a decline in the volume of fruit and vegetables eaten by NI consumers, with a 15 per cent drop in the amount of fruit bought each week between 2006 and 2013 and a 4.9 per cent decline in vegetables bought per week during the same period.
- 57 per cent of consumers in RoI and 43 per cent of consumers in NI want supermarkets to stock more locally sourced fruit and vegetables, mainly to alleviate worries over food security. Consumers still prefer to buy loose fruit and vegetables with 71 per cent of all NI and RoI consumers buying fresh, loose vegetables in a typical week.
A unique weed control system for container garden plants.
With the majority of plants for the garden market now grown in containers there is a challenge for growers to keep containers free from weeds and liverwort.
Paul Downard from Unique Garden Products near Markethill in County Armagh has developed a container mulch product using local wool based materials. To help investigate this product he obtained an Innovation Voucher from Invest NI and the product was evaluated at the Horticultural Centre, Greenmount Campus. David Kerr from Greenmount Campus reports: “We tested the unique pot topper in nursery conditions and found it is a flexible and easy to use product which prevents weeds, including moss and liverwort, from developing. The wool based nature of the product allows it to hold moisture resulting in the need for less frequent watering.”
Paul Downard from Unique Garden Products says: “The work at Greenmount confirmed the performance of the topper as an effective weed control product. I am finding more interest from growers in this local product especially with the reduced availability of weedkiller products for ornamentals in containers.”
Crop covers on swede
Cabbage root fly (Delia radicum) is considered the most damaging pest of swede, a crop which currently ranks third in terms of area of field vegetable production in Northern Ireland.
With NO approved chemical control against cabbage root fly on swede crops, growers need to consider alternative control measures to produce a marketable crop. Last year, CAFRE began a knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) project with a grower using mesh crop covers, an alternative control measure used in Scotland and England. Results from areas of covered swede versus uncovered swede found significant improvements in the marketable yield produced using crop covers. On average, the covered areas produced 79 per cent of the crop suitable for the fresh market, with the remainder suitable for processing.
While the initial investment in crop covers is significant, growers wishing to produce high quality swede have few remaining options. Crop covers cost approximately £3000 per hectare (£1250 per acre) and have a life of up to ten years. The grower that took part in CAFRE’s KTT project is currently growing 20 out of 32 hectares (50 out of 80 acres) of swede under cover with further plans of investment in the future.
This project will continue during 2014 and further results will be made available.
