Riviera adapts to extreme realities
UK vegetable producer Riviera Produce, located in Cornwall, is adapting to the increased likelihood of summer heat waves brought on by the climate crisis and has warned the UK of the dangers of depending on food imports in future.
The company is changing its farming techniques to conserve rainwater, according to a report from ITV, planting cover crops to encourage worms and facilitate drainage.
“This past summer we went about 12 weeks with no rain,” said farm manager David Thomas. “Crops don’t appreciate a long period like that. We’re trying to even out those extremes by using the soil and the cover crop.”
Managing director David Simmons said seeing soils that have developed over thousands of years run off into the road is not only heartbreaking but also “financial suicide”.
Eurofruit is a leading magazine for buyers and suppliers of fresh produce in Europe and the Middle East. Its global network of editors, reporters, and correspondents, publishing ten issues per year and daily online news, provides international fruit and vegetable trade with the latest information and analysis, covering innovations in all areas of the industry.