Growers Take Water Security Campaign To House Of Lords

Fresh produce leaders will urge policymakers to place food production at the heart of future water planning as drought conditions increase pressure on British growers.

Representatives from across the UK fresh produce supply chain are preparing to take their campaign for greater water resilience to the House of Lords.

Growers, Morrisons and Harper Adams University will present their recommendations to parliamentarians and industry stakeholders at an event on 17 November, hosted by former NFU president Minette Batters.

The initiative follows a year-long collaboration involving growers, supply chain businesses and the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at Harper Adams University.

Low rainfall and high temperatures are already affecting crop production, water availability and growers’ ability to plan for the future. More than two-thirds of England has recently been declared in drought, according to the project partners.

The group argues that uncertainty surrounding future water supplies is also making it more difficult for fresh produce businesses to commit to the substantial long-term investments required to strengthen their resilience.

At the centre of its recommendations is a call for agricultural water storage to be recognised as strategic infrastructure. The industry wants planning and funding arrangements that enable growers to capture water when supplies are plentiful and store it for use during extended dry periods.

Food production and food security should also be given greater weight in the development of national water policy, the partners say.

The project has identified four principal priorities: recognising food security within water policy; providing stronger support for agricultural water storage; considering water quality and availability together; and increasing investment in research, innovation and knowledge exchange.

It also calls for a more integrated approach to catchment management, reflecting the close relationship between water quality and the amount of water available to growers.

Jon Hammond, director of Hammond Produce, said access to water had become fundamental to the future of domestic food production. He argued that growers needed supportive policies, regulatory certainty and recognition of food production as a national priority if they were to make the necessary investments.

Alex Hardie, business development manager at the School of Sustainable Food and Farming, said conversations with growers across the country had revealed remarkably consistent concerns. Water security, he stressed, was now an economic and investment issue as well as an environmental one.

Morrisons agriculture manager Alice Liddle said: “Water resilience is becoming one of the defining challenges facing British agriculture and the long-term security of our food supply.”

The recommendations were developed through stakeholder interviews, industry workshops and a review of existing evidence involving growers, retailers and water specialists.

The House of Lords event will provide an opportunity for the fresh produce industry to press for clearer recognition of food production in water policy and greater regulatory certainty to support long-term investment in resilience.