House of Lords report on the gardening industry’s future is dismissed, reports Ian Hodgson
A cross-party report that hoped to raise the national status of horticulture and gardening has been largely dismissed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Criticism came from stakeholder organisations after many of the 93 recommendations in Sowing the Seeds: Ablooming English horticultural sector by the House of Lords Horticultural Sector Committee remained unendorsed.
The report raised the possibility that horticulture would be acknowledged and politically supported as a key industry, separate from agriculture, and also championed for issues including climate change, public health and wellbeing and the national economy. The wide-ranging report also covered matters including horticultural education, phasing out of peat products, international trade, provision of allotments and green spaces, kerbside recycling of green waste, water conservation and more.
A call to appoint a minister with specific horticultural responsibilities was brushed aside despite independent petitions supporting it, as was a move to put horticulture on the National Curriculum as a standalone science topic, with career councillors encouraged to boost its profile. DEFRA said it is better covered in curricular science, with career guidance adequately supported through existing mechanisms.
RHS director general Clare Matterson called the response “disappointing” and “greatly underestimating the scope and impact of the £28 billion environmental horticulture sector”. Horticultura
