Hargreaves Plants has just completed planting its asparagus variety-testing site in West Norfolk in a bid to bring more true green types to UK supermarket shelves.

"In total we have planted 363 individual plots with 180 different varieties," said Hargreaves' project manager Jamie Petchell. "About 60-70 per cent of asparagus grown in the UK has come from varieties that were intended for white asparagus production. We are selecting from a range of breeders in Canada, New Zealand, Italy and the US for green varieties."

Many of the selections are just numbered types at this stage, but Hargreaves has clear marketing intentions. "The developing interest in UK-grown asparagus has resulted in a number of multiple retailers looking for exclusive varieties," said Petchell.

"Some of the varieties in the project are at a more advanced stage of selection, and we hope to have them available in commercial volumes easily within three years." Others are like to take nearer five years to get to market. "There is a wealth of technical data for our varieties and this will help us to make earlier selection decisions on our new site," said Petchell. "Paramount to our evaluation principles are spear quality, including flavour. Yield and variety hardiness will also be important."

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