Government must take horticulture sector seriously or risk its future, warns West Sussex farmer

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) believes the government’s response to the House of Lords Horticulture Sector Committee Report misses the opportunity to grow our fruit, vegetable, plants and flower industry.

This is despite the horticulture sector being earmarked by the government at its Farm to Fork summit as an area for growth and a promise of a Horticulture Strategy within its own Food Strategy, published in 2022.

West Sussex farmer Martin Emmett, director of Tristram Plants, who is NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board Chair, said: “The British horticulture sector is worth £5 billion to the UK economy, yet despite its own ambitions, much of the Government’s response seems to have missed the opportunity to grow the British horticulture sector.