THE TREE-FRUIT INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM*: CHANGING TO SURVIVE 



William J. Rramlage, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, 



and 



John Turnbull, National Fruit Adviser, ADAS, East Mailing Research Station, 

 Kent, England 



To understand the forces that are producing radical changes in the tree- 

 fruit industry in the U.K., it is necessary to recognize England's 

 geographical and political position. Geographically, the industry is 

 located at about the same latitude as Newfoundland, which places it at the 

 northern edge of a climate that will support commercial production. Many 

 common varieties of tree fruits cannot he grown commercially in this 

 cl imate. 



Politically, the U.K. belongs to the European Economic Community (EEC), 

 which allows goods to move into the U.K. duty-free from other EEC 

 countries. Since some of these countries, especially France and Italy, 

 have climates much more suitable for tree-fruit production, European fruits 

 can often be sold on British markets at lower prices than for those grown 

 in the U.K. 



The U.K.'s entry into the EEC put its tree-fruit industry in jeopardy 

 and resulted in major changes within the industry. Pint of the story can 

 be seen in the industry's statistics. Over the past 1") years, total apple 

 acr-'age has declined 30%, pear acreage 'las declined ?.S . and cherry acreage 

 has declined 50%. For plums ■'he decline is even more startling if you look 

 back further: acreage in 198? was only 30% of that in 1957. Approximate 

 acreage for these crops in 1983 was: apples, fi?,400 acres; pears, 10,000 

 acres; plums, 8,750 acres; cherries, 3,050 acres. Peaches arp not grown 

 commercially in the U.K. 



These figures may imply that this is a failing industry, but the U.K. 

 fruit industry is not dying. It is adapting to new conditions to shedding 

 itself of unwanted fruit or economically nonviable orchards, and adopting 

 new methods to increase productivity and efficiency. These changes have 

 been greatest for apples, which represent the strongest as well as the 

 biggest component of the industry. Total apple production in 1982 was 

 about ?? million bushels, and the ways in which apple production has 

 changed will be emphasized here. 



Because of the EEC competition, the U.K. must produce what its market 

 wants and the rest of the EEC cannot produce more efficiently. For apples 

 and pears, this has meant concentrating production on a handful of good- 

 quality varieties, all of which have been grown for more than 100 years. 



*The United Kingdom (U.K.) consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and 

 Northern Ireland, although most of the tree fruits are grown in England. 



