Scotland looks at alternative crops

With post-Brex it trade arrangements challenging the status quo of food supply chains, medicinal cannabis, mushrooms and cut flowers are among three alternative crops which could be grown successfully in the south of Scotland, according to a new report.

Farmers in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway diversifying from the traditional land uses of beef, sheep, arable and forestry, could also move into producing bark fort annin extraction, sugar beet or ancient cereals which have higher protein and fibre and less gluten, a report drawn up by the SRUC has claimed.

Some of the key opportunities for alternative crops in the south of Scotland include the availability and suitability of land, and the processing facilities and market conditions needed to foster their development.

Author, Anna S ellars said, “The full range of alternative crops is massive - for example there are over 300 species of clover alone - and new methods of agronomy and processing are enabling more crops to reach market viability, such as the first UK lentil harvest in 2018.” She said the range had been whittled down to crops considered to be of most interest and potential for the South of Scotland. And she added that the report provided an overview of the opportunities, steps for further development, and appraisals for each of the crops.

The report also includes decision support tools to evaluate the potential market for alternative crops and the potential yield given their growing conditions, and links to existing technical and market information on production of these crops.