T EdiMesNews Report raises indusrv prominence by ouiining how the sector is the iargest UK empioy er with a 3.

7ni-srong woridorce Food supply chain review fiags eoonomic gains FOOO SUPPLY By Rachel Sixsmith Thefirstcomprehensive overview of the economic im portance of the UK's food supply chain (FSC) has been published in a bid to give the industry greater prominence. The UK Food Supply Chain report was written by food and drink skills council Improve in partnership with sector skills councils Lantra, People 1st, Skills for Logistics and SkillsmEirt Retail. Defra, the Food and Drink Federation, IGD and the NFU were also involved . The report outlines how, with 3.7m employees, the food supply chain is the UK' s largest employer, accounting for 14 per cent of the workforce. Turnover has in creased 18 per cent since 2007, now standing at 412bn, with exports groving by the s ame Picking: turnover in the UKfood supply chain now stands at 412bn proportion over the same period to 16.1bn, it said. The report also looks at the k ey drivers for change and places growth considerations in the context of Governm ent policy on food security, sustainability, technological advances, consumer de mand and globalisation. A key focus is on skills, looking at common areas across primary production, food and drink manufacturing and processing, food retail an d hospitality areas where productivity and performance could be improved through training. Jim Paice, minister for agriculture and food, welcomed the report as an important step towards a whole food supply chain approach. "I believe its potential is even greater. That is where work on skills is vital," he said. Sukky Jassi, head of research at Improve, said: "Ther e is a lot of common ground in the skills issues across the FSC. So it is logica l to work collectively towards shared solutions." Gollaboration Siiiils action pian to taci{ie shortage The UK Food Supply Chain report follows a year of collaboration between the sect or skills councils and trade organisations in pressing the coalition Government to recognise food and drink as a single, cohesive industry in its policy making. A reception at the House of Commons last October was attended by 100 MPs, civil servants and industry leaders, and led to an early-day motion callingon the Gov ernment to tackle specific skills shortages in food and drink to be tabled. Afol low-up report. Skills Action Plan for the Food Supply Chain, to be published lat er this month, will set out a blueprint on how these goals can be achieved. play ing an important role in the implementation of Defra's structural reform plan to encourage sustainable food production by increasing competitiveness and resilie nce across the food supply chain. Soil Association launches low-carhon scheme for farms The Soil Association has launched a low-carbon farming project to help farmers a nd growers reduce emissions and improve their resource efficiency. The project w ill identify user-friendly, carbon footprinting tools and provide a benchmarking facility along with information, advice, and detailed case studies. A number of workshops and on-farm training events will be on offer in the coming months to all interested farmers and growers. To provide a benchmarking facility, the Soil Association needs to collect carbon footprinting data from different farms and is looking for farmers to get involved. Poppy Johnson, the association's low-car bon farming adviser, said: "There is a growing urgency for farms to reduce their carbon footprint. This kind of work is essential if we are to reach Government targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Farming has a vital role to play because it is responsible for 30 per cent of UK greenhouse

gas emissions. "We hope to encourage adoption of best practice by enabling farm ers to learn from each other, make assessments of their current activities and i dentify areas for improvement." For more information about getting involved in t he carbon footprinting exercise please email pjohnson@soilassociation.org or cal l 0117 3145127. Agronomist teiis growers to water potatoes now for ionger-term benefit "Don't save your water use it now" is the message beint; given to potato growers b y Scottish Agronomy's senior agronomist Eric Anderson. He said watering crops wi ll ensure efficient ^vater uptake and maximise rooting capacity. The need has be en accentuated by the unusually dry spring, he added. "Tuber initiation is under way and growers with a soil 32 10 June 2011 Potatoes: roots will need water water deficit of more than 25mm could experience lower yields, with adverse effects on tuber size distribution if they don't irrigate." Irrigating now will also help to minimise their cultivation expenses, he said, because crops need ev en more irrigation if their rooting is reduced. Recent studies showed that it ta kes 80 litres of diesel to pump 250cu m of water and bed tilling typically costs 98/ha, of which 40 per cent comprises diesel. Workshops East Midlands Potato Day Eric Anderson of Scottish Agronomy will be running a workshop about water use an d the impact of soil structure damage on water uptake at the East Midlands Potat o Day at QV Foods, Holbeach Hurn, Lincolnshire on 5 July. Other features include a talk by Reuben Morris from Frontier Agriculture on control programmes to keep Alternaria at bay. Andy Barker from Barworth Agriculture will report on his wor k on biofumigation, whileJohn Keer from Richard Austin Associates will discuss h erbicides, with a visual display of variety postemergence sensitivity. For more information visit www.potato.org.uk/events www.HoiticultureWeek.co.ul(

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