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Horticulture: Subsidies

Question for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

UIN 42918, tabled on 31 March 2025

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with representatives of the horticultural industry on an alternative to the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme.

Answered on

7 April 2025

The Government’s commitment to our horticulture sector and its vital role in strengthening food security remains steadfast. Our proposed approach to future funding for horticulture will be considered alongside Defra’s work to simplify and rationalise agricultural grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and nature. This includes developing a 25-year Farming Roadmap, which will involve government and the industry working together to identify solutions to challenges to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.

We recognise the specific needs of the horticulture sector, and Defra ministers and officials meet regularly with a variety of growers from across the sector, (including a number of Producer Organisation members), to discuss a wide range of issues to help us understand how best to support sector.