Apple growers get sympathy alone
Apple growers get sympathy alone
FOOD Minister Lord Donoughue offered Kent apple growers sympathy but no extra cash during his visit to see the extent of the frost damage caused earlier this year.
Although the NFU estimates the value of the national apple and pear crop has fallen by £43.7m this year, Lord Donoughue said there were no prospects of a UK or EU-funded compensation scheme because of constraints on public expenditure.
But, he said, recent changes to EU rules meant that producers who had lost more than 50% of their crop would not be penalised when it came to applying for EU capital grants. In the past, grants were linked to income, with more money available as turnover increased. Now, Lord Donoughue said, the funding would be calculated on a three-year average rather than on a single years figures.
"I would also be willing to ask the commission to change the rules to allow operational programmes to be amended in-year to include frost protection investment if there is firm evidence that growers would take up the option," he added.
Sue Scott, NFU spokeswoman in the south-east, said the frosts had caused havoc, leading to the loss of 456 jobs in Kent and Sussex.
Ms Scott said the union aimed to mount a campaign to promote English Coxes this year, and she welcomed the undertaking by most supermarkets to market frost-affected fruit that would not normally have made the grade.
Lord Donoughue:No money available to help apple growers.