The NFU has submitted written evidence to a new inquiry by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee on the Natural Environment White Paper.
The White Paper, launched in early June 2011, sets out Government’s vision for the natural environment for the next 50 years. Most controversially for horticulture, the White Paper included targets to phase out the use of peat in professional horticulture by 2030 and eliminate peat use in the amateur gardening market by 2020.
The EFRA Committee's inquiry asked for evidence from other countries that the approaches proposed in the White Paper can be successfully applied in practice. In response the NFU highlighted that having a policy to phase-out peat use places the UK Government in a unique position – and one that already places UK growers in an uncompetitive position, because they are using more costly peat alternatives than their EU competitors. The NFU also made clear how the White Paper approach on peat is at odds with other EU national governments, for example the Dutch, who are working on enhancing the sustainability of the peat supply chain for Dutch horticulture. This means securing long term availability of high quality and/or alternatives for the sector, while dealing appropriately with biodiversity issues and taking climate change into account.
The EFRA Committee’s enquiry also asked what resources will be needed to fully deliver the White Paper’s ambitions and how these can best be provided. In response we outlined the technical and economic barriers that currently hold back peat replacement. To overcome these barriers, Government needs to work closely with industry and other stakeholders to develop an evidence-based approach to this issue, with realistic and sustainable peat reduction targets.
It must be demonstrated that the supply of peat alternatives will meet the demand required to meet any reduction targets. Measures also need to be put in place to ensure that peat-reduced and peat-free growing media products supplied to the amateur sector are fit for purpose. Finally, the retail sector approach needs to change to ensure that growers are lifted out of the current unsustainable position where they have been unable to pass-on the higher cost of peat alternatives to their retail customers and in-turn consumers.
No comments have been made.