Strawberry crop boosted by spring sun

SIZZLING spring weather has been great news for strawberry farmers with 2020 on track to produce one of Britain’s biggest ever crops.

According to Tesco, record levels of sunshine in recent weeks have led to an estimated 20 per cent increase in strawberry production.

The Western Daily Press reported earlier this month that the crop was hitting new records on the sweetness-scale.

And the supermarket giant believes the excess crop will allow shops to keep the price of Britishgrown fruit down.

Tesco berry buyer Laura Mitchell said: “The fantastic UK weather and extra sunshine so far this spring has brought on British strawberries faster than expected, with many growers seeing production 20 per cent higher than normal for this time of year. And it’s resulted in exceptionally good quality and sweet strawberries with sugar levels boosted by the plants enjoying the longer, sunny days.”

As a result of the increased availability, Tesco has bought an extra 300 tons of British-grown strawberries.

One West grower, Karen Price of Ansty PYO and Farm Shop in Wiltshire said: “We are hoping we should be able to start next week. Everytime I go out there’s more and more strawberries turning, which means they will come in quite quickly. We’re looking forward to welcoming people, but we’re asking people to be sensible when they come and follow the rules.

“Normally picking strawberries is a fun, entertaining thing to do, but this year it won’t be about the entertainment side of things, it’s about coming and picking fruit then going home to enjoy it.

“This year it will be a very different type of season. It will be short and sharp. The strawberries will be phenomenal in taste and appearance, but they will ripen very quickly, so where you’re usually looking at a two to three month season, it will be more like a month or five to six weeks.”

Karen says this will mean that demand for strawberries will be high.

She added: “When they come, go and pick them because if you wait you might miss them.”

The extra sunshine has contributed to increased strawberry crops across Britain, including Kent, Essex, Sussex, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire, Scotland and Wales.

Paul Avery, sales director at suppliers Berryworld UK, said: “The British strawberry crop is in great shape this year and it’s on track to be one of the biggest ever.

“The quality is superb and we’re working hard to bring an iconic piece of summer to the British public.”

The country received an average of 224.5 hours of sunshine during April, beating the previous record of 211.9 hours set in 2015.