Elgro explores organic costs
7 February 1997
Elgro explores organic costs
RISING demand for organic vegetables has led Lincs producer Elgro to link with the Warwicks-based Henry Doubleday Research Association to explore the process of converting to organic.
A four-year, £400,000 MAFF-funded project will examine agronomic, financial and marketing aspects, says the HDRA. Its main research is carried out on 13ha (32 acres) at HRI, Wellesbourne and three reference farms.
Elgro will sponsor conversion and trials on 4ha (10 acres) at HRI Kirton, with extra land from the firms farms. Elm Farm Research Centre will provide a farm conversion plan involving a fertility-building ley.
"We and our customers noted a rising demand from some consumers for organic vegetables and that many of these are imported," says Elgros managing director Philip Sharpe. *