•
NEWS
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
FEBRUARY 2017
6
Workshop to highlight benefits of bubble
technology to clean fruit and vegetable crops
Fine bubble technology could
help fresh fruit and vegetable
growers ensure clean crops,
Chemical Engineer Dean Burfoot
will tell attendees at a free
antimicrobial workshop
organised by AHDB Horticulture
in Fife.
The technology was first
studied as ameans of reducing
the amount of water used in
cleaning through the addition of
air. Adding tiny bubbles also
causes a natural scrubbing
action as they move around.
However at the workshop Dean
will stress the bubbles’ ability to
reduce the volume of microbes
found on fresh produce,
potentially reducing the use of
chemical disinfectants.
Horticultural growers
throughout Scotlandmake
concerted efforts to ensure their
produce is free of contaminants
which could damage human
health. This often involves using
disinfectants called biocides to
kill off microorganisms in
irrigation and produce wash
waters and to disinfect
equipment and surfaces.
Biocides kill bacteria such as E.
coli 0517 before produce is sold.
However chlorine-based biocides
can lead to chemical compounds
known as chlorate or perchlorate
being left on produce.
Dean says: “Bubble technology
has been used in Japan for a
number of years and is just
beginning to catch on here.
Washing surfaces or produce
usingwater with fine bubbles
destroys 90%more
microorganisms than using
water alone. Creating bubbles in
water can also disinfect the
water itself as the agitation
produces free radicals which act
as cleaners. The technology has
also been seen to improve plant
growth and this is thought to be
due to increasing the oxygen
and nitrogen content of the
water.”
As well as being effective, the
fine bubble technology is also
relatively cheap. Growers can
purchase specially designed
nozzles and combine themwith
existing kit to aerate their water
supply.
The event will be held at the
Vine Conference Centre,
Dunfermline, Fife. The workshop
will take place on 15 or 16
February, the final date
dependent on registration
numbers. Delegates who can
attend either day should register
for both days. To book growers
should visit:
horticulture.ahdb.org.uk/events;
bookingwill close on 6th
February.
John Barker
Fruit and veg should replace
feedwheat, says Professor
John Barker, who has died at the age of 77, farmed vegetables
and salads at Rivernook Farm, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. The son
of the late Bill Barker of W.A. Barker Ltd, John farmed alongside his
father, finally taking over Rivernook when his father retired in 1981.
W.A. Barker always specialised in producing high-quality salad
crops for the Londonmarkets, especially Covent Garden. However,
the company never really embraced the trend towards supermarket
trading. To diversify, John opened a farm shop in the 1990’s and
further diversificationwas seen to be the key to survival.
Next, he opened a car boot sale which grew to be the one of the
biggest and best in the south of England. In addition, he put down
large areas to grass which served both as a park-and-ride for the
Hampton Court Flower Show and an area where exhibitors brought
caravans and parked on the farm for the duration of the Flower
Show.
As urbanisation further encroached, the farmwas put up for sale.
After completion, John -
together with his wife,
Shirley - decided in
2015, to go and live in
America to be nearer
their respective families.
However, he never lost
his interest in farming,
and especially in farm
machinery. He even had
his favourite tractor sent
over to America where
he intended to take part
in agricultural shows.
Johnwas amodest
manwho possessed
immense personal
charm, a characteristic
which endeared him to
many friends, especially
growers in the Thames
Valley. He leaves a
wife, Shirley and his
extended family of
three sons, two
daughters and seven
grandchildren.
British farmers should stop growing feedwheat on some of the
country’s most productive land and growmore vegetables. That is the
view of Professor Tim Lang from City University, whowas speaking at
the Nottingham Farming Conference.
He says much of Britain’s best farmland is wasted growing feed for
livestock and should be growing fruit and vegetables for human
consumption. The change in lowland farming is needed to address the
country’s future food needs: “At themoment 61% of our food is
home-produced, but within that only 15% of the fruit we eat and 55%
of the vegetables are grown here – and that for a level of consumption
which, we are being told, should be doubled for health reasons.
“Why are we producing animals on land that should be growing fruit
and vegetables?Meat production consumes 50% of the grainwe grow.
That is bonkers, amisuse of land and amisuse of infrastructure and
resources”.
Yet we have the resources to change that, he suggests: “We have
thousands of native apple varieties, yet the vast majority of those we
eat are imported, and
hundreds of native
varieties of pear, yet
two thirds of those we
eat are imported”.
He suggests meat
production should be
confined to land that
is not suited to
growing crops; that
livestock should be
mainly grass-fed and
the current
concentration on
producing volume
being replaced by a
“less meat but better”
basis.
He accepted that this would be a difficult message for aMidlands
audience, many of whomwere exactly the kind of lowland farmers
who grew feedwheat or reared livestock. But he encouraged them
to go home and think about planting an orchard, or consider
growing vegetables.
John Barker.
Professor Tim Lang from City University.
