Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · United Kingdom
Warwick researchers say UK ‘perfect produce’ expectations add to growers’ pest-management barriers
A University of Warwick study based on interviews across the fresh-produce supply chain identifies obstacles that growers face in adopting integrated pest management.
Why it matters: UK fresh-produce growers and others in the supply chain interviewed for the study are the parties the Warwick findings directly concern.
University of Warwick researchers found that UK expectations of ‘perfect produce’ add to the barriers growers face, the university said.
According to the university, the findings draw on interviews conducted across the fresh-produce supply chain.
The interviews point to knowledge gaps specific to particular crops, uncertainty and limited advice as obstacles to integrated pest management, the university reported.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
The Warwick study concerns UK fresh-produce growers: if crop-specific knowledge gaps, uncertainty, limited advice and ‘perfect produce’ expectations are the obstacles, then those are the barriers growers face in taking up integrated pest management, according to the researchers.
