Asparagus volumes are down by 10 per cent on last year in the UK, according to advisor to the Asparagus Growers’ Association (AGA) Adrian Barlow.
Volumes are down more than 10 per cent on what was expected, and down just under 10 per cent on last year’s season.
At the start of the season in April, growers were predicting that the adverse weather of the past two years would affect production and, although the beginning of the season had a really good flush of asparagus thanks to warm weather, production has fallen back slightly since then.
Barlow said: “The cooler weather we have had since the start of the season has slowed production and lack of rain has been an issue in some areas such as Norfolk, the East Midlands and East Anglia, although this is not the case across the board. This combined with the previous poor weather of past seasons has impacted on production, as the lack of warmth last year reduced the energy stored by the crowns, meaning they do not have the energy to respond this season, even if the conditions had been perfect. What we need is some really warm weather at the end of this season to regenerate the crowns and help them store energy for next year’s season.
But demand for British asparagus this season has remained high, with no sign of slackening. Barlow said: “The effect of the asparagus PR campaign has helped to maintain demand and there is still a huge number of consumers wanting to buy it, although it is too early to say whether we have increased penetration this season.
“The issue of slight price pressure during the economic downturn is affecting the return for growers - however, the quality of kit is excellent this year.”
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