Search

Abstract: Little research has been conducted on structural change within the UK horticultural sector. This paper examines long-term changes, over a 90-year period, in one particular part of the UK horticultural sector: strawberries. It follows its growth from being a minor crop in 1920 to becoming the biggest grossing horticultural crop in 2009. Using a combination of long-term continuous datasets of agricultural statistics and primary data gathered from a behavioural study of the sector, three distinct phases of change are identified. The last phase, in particular, witnessed the biggest changes with the introduction of protected cultivation, the industrialisation of strawberry production and the divergence of practices and marketing methods leading to the formation of two distinct farm types. This industrialisation removed the geographical disadvantage of Scotland relative to England, encouraging growth of the Scottish strawberry industry and a spatial shift in the main production centres. Supermarkets have played a dominant role in the market for fresh strawberries and their importance in driving change is of high significance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Discusses adjustments in business activities implemented by many farm families in Britain as part of a survival strategy due to agricultural restructuring. Insights from the developing political economy of agriculture; Off-farm employment of legal operators; Relations between alternative farm-centered and off-farm activities; Small-sized farm businesses particularly pressurised.

Farmers are continually adjusting their business enterprises in response to the shifting economic, political and social pressures which affect each aspect of their production. These adjustments may include structural changes, agronomic (production) changes or moves into 'diversification' enterprises, and are manifest at different scales, fromthe farm unit to changes in a country's or region's agricultural structure. One factor influencing future changes in agriculture is likely to be climate change ('global warming') which will after the physical environmental conditions of production. The consequences of this might include a change in the crop species cultivated in different areas. This paper examines the responses of farmers in part of southern Britain to the possibility of growing navy beans, a crop used for baked bean manufacture and obtained almost wholly from North America, asa response to a warmer climate. The paper seeks to explore the network of relations at the farm, national and international scales which will determine the likelihood of commercial adoption of the crop occurring in the U.K. Through discussion of the results of interviews with farmers, food processing companies and associated agencies it is concluded that there are significant structural barriers to the adoption of navy beans as a diversification option on U.K. farms as a resultof international trade restraints and a measure of inertia and risk aversion within the processing companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]