The House of Lords Horticulture Sector Committee has published its inquiry report into the development, challenges and opportunities facing the UK sector. This includes findings of the “extraordinary potential of the horticultural sector to deliver on the net zero agenda.”

However, it found that the sector faces huge challenges that if left unaddressed make its future “bleak” and could lead to a breakdown in UK food security, and a failure to tackle urgent environmental challenges.

Challenges identified include; a lack of cross-departmental working, poor ministerial oversight and the lack of a dedicated horticultural strategy; relentless competition between supermarkets; reliance on a poorly managed seasonal migrant worker scheme; poor roll-out and communication on the forthcoming peat ban, with a lack of funding into research on alternatives; lack of long-term funding for research and development, particularly for automation and robotics.