UK soft-fruit growers go green
5 June 2005
New green ‘polytunnels’ have been developed by UK scientists to minimise their visual impact on the countryside.
Polytunnels have become a familiar sight across the UK – and across Europe – as consumers demand better quality fruit, available for more of the year.
Hall Hunter Partnership is trialling the new green polytunnels at it's farms in Berkshire and Surrey.
Harry Hall, managing partner at Hall Hunter Partnership, says: “Polytunnels have made a great difference to the UK’s soft fruit industry. The use of pesticides is considerably down, the growing season has been extended and consumers are getting the best soft fruit available anywhere in the world.”
But polytunnels also pose some problems. While the polythene used is recycled, natural insect predators are used instead of chemicals, and the polytunnels are placed in storage when not needed, the reflected glare from summer sun can on occasions be annoying to local residents and visitors to the countryside.
So scientists from the University of Reading, working with polytunnel manufacturers Haygrove and British Polythene Industries plc, have developed a polythene film tinted green which reduces reflected sunlight by up to three-quarters compared to normal polythene.
As well as at the Hall Hunter Partnership farms in Berkshire and Surrey, the green polytunnels are also being trialled at Haygrove’s own farm in Herefordshire. They are believed to be the only sites in the world where this new technology is being deployed.
Mr Hall added: “We want to do all we can to minimise the environmental and visual impact of our strawberry farming. Strawberries are an integral part of the British summer and so is the British countryside. We can have the best of both worlds and we’ll continue to innovate to provide the public with the best quality fruit at the lowest environmental cost.”
