Two of the UK's leading agricultural research centres have joined forces to boost production of home-grown organic produce.

The Stockbridge Technology Centre in North Yorkshire and Newcastle University's Tesco Centre for Organic Agriculture launched their glasshouse organic crops centre (GOCC), based at Stockbridge, last week.

The centre comprises 16 experimental glasshouses measuring 200 metres square each, in which scientists will work on improving production efficiency of organically-grown salad vegetables.

Rob Jacobson, director of GOCC, said: 'There is very little scientific data available to underpin organic crop production strategies in the horticulture industry.' He added: 'The university and ourselves are combining complementary expertise and facilities to form the GOCC, which will undertake projects to fill the most important knowledge gaps.' The GOCC research team will begin by studying tomatoes and cucumbers, moving on to other crops such as peppers and aubergines as more businesses get involved.

Carlo Leifert, professor of ecological agriculture at Newcastle University, said: 'Shoppers currently pay a premium for organically-grown food, which suppresses demand. If we can improve efficiency of production, we will not only be improving the supply from British growers, but lowering the premium as well.' One of the UK's largest organic salad producers Humber VHB, based in East Yorkshire, sponsored the conversion of the glasshouse units from conventional to organic production. l l

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