Asparagus specialist Hargreaves is forecasting a continued upward trend in both consumption and production of the spring vegetable.

“This year has witnessed the earliest ever availability of home-grown product,” said the firm’s Jamie Petchell. “The initial crop benefited not only from a kind spring, but from various recently developed systems of crop protection. Later on, the colder weather has meant huge volumes of product have needed to be imported from overseas.”

“The public, in general, is not only looking more seriously at healthy eating but is seeking novel and improved products,” said Ross-on-Wye grower John Chinn, pictured, who supplied M&S with New Zealand variety Pacific Purple.

Hargreaves Plants is also excited about the performance of Guelph Millennium - a conventional green with an exceptional size and with a tight head. It produces late in the season when other cultivars are running out of steam.

“Alongside these two varieties we are witnessing a range of better cultivars coming through our Norfolk trials,” said Petchell. These extend over 2.5 hectares and contain 240 varieties from 16 different breeding programmes. “The obvious benefits from our new cultivars will make growing more profitable and certainly encourage consumption,” said Hargreaves technical manager Marie-Laure Bayard. “I am seeing as much as a 30 per cent increase in marketable yield.”

Worcestershire-based Western Asparagus Growers (WAG) is scaling up production to cater for the increased demand for UK produced asparagus. “This early season has further highlighted the need for new varieties that offer a range of maturities,” said the group’s co-ordinator Colin Creese. “If we are to reap the benefits, we need to be looking at late cultivars as well as early types. The industry as a whole has historically been reliant upon one or two cultivars. Thankfully this is now changing.”

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