Advice on environmental protection and guidance with best practice will be available to visitors attending this year’s Fruit Focus event, on July 23, following the signing up of the Environment Agency as a first-time exhibitor.
Senior environment officer at the Environment Agency Ben Tragett has said that the regulatory body’s presence will be a benefit to the sector and boost the value of the show, which is widely seen as the UK’s leading technical event for the fruit industry.
He said: “Fruit and horticulture are important audiences for our work. The things we are responsible for, such as abstraction licences, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) and farm waste regulations, are often almost as important as selecting the right pesticide or choosing which varieties to grow.
“But there is often more attention focused on the livestock and crop sectors than horticulture. By attending the show and explaining how we work in these and other regulatory areas - oil and chemical storage, for example - and being there to answer questions and offer advice on general pollution prevention, we hope we can reconnect with fruit growers and demonstrate how the agency can help them to run their businesses better.”
The event’s organiser Haymarket Exhibitions’ Jon Day said: “Environmental protection should be a top priority for the industry, now more so than ever before. UK growers’ observation of the need for good environmental management is a real feel-good story, especially against the threat of imports, and visitors to the show should make the most of the agency’s presence to check their familiarity and compliance with its regulations.”
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