Supplies of British fruit and vegetables as well as grains such as wheat could come under serious pressure if the dry spell continues this month, growers have warned.

April was the warmest on record and the driest since 2007, according to the Met Office, and followed hot on the heels of an exceptionally dry winter.

Although warm weather has to date been largely beneficial for many crops creating good conditions for planting and fertilising, for example rainfall is now urgently needed to ensure crops are not damaged by a lack of water.

Cereals specialists at HGCA said crops grown on light soils would be most at risk, including spring barley, as well as "a high proportion" of potatoes and sugarbeet.

Crops with shallow root systems, such as leafy salads, herbs and pea plants, would also be particularly vulnerable, added Laura Drew at the NFU, although she stressed the water situation around the country was currently "very mixed" and that it was too early to predict exactly how much yields would be affected, and for which crops.

Stephen Barnes, an asparagus grower from Tunbridge Wells, said things were already getting "desperate" for him. "We are running out of water for our young, immature crop, due to be harvested next year and the year after that," he said.

Asparagus was a relatively hardy crop, so most growers like himself did not have irrigation systems and relied solely on rainfall, he added. "We really need it to rain in the next two weeks now."

Growers with irrigation systems had largely done a good job keeping "on top" of watering their land, meaning the situation was not yet critical, said Robert Oldershaw, a Lincolnshire shallot grower. "But if we don't see rainfall over the next two to three weeks, the crops will suffer and yields could be down," he warned.

Growers in many parts of the country had had to start irrigating their land earlier than usual, Oldershaw said, adding that extra costs were already undermining tight margins.

As for retail prices, Drew said most growers supplying UK retail had their contract prices "locked in".

If yields were to go down or growers had to put in greater resources to support crops, "it will be them paying for it, not the retailer or the consumers", she said.

Prime minister David Cameron this week agreed to a meeting with farmers to discuss the impact of the dry weather on crops.

Read more
Hot Topic: The BBQ Easter doesn't help confectionery sales, but nor does extra time on-shelf (30 April 2011)
Hottest Easter since records began puts eggs in meltdown (30 April 2011)

Topics