HORTICULTURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

That this House notes that there has been a significant reduction in resources and funding for research and development in the production horticulture sector over the last 20 years; further notes that research and development is vital for the industry to be able to innovate, improve productivity and deal with new legislation; is deeply concerned that this decline in research and development capacity will mean that the UK is unable to address the scientific challenges raised by new EU-crop protection legislation; observes that, as other EU countries have a stable research base, thus the UK's horticulture sector will become increasingly less competitive; and, as a first step, calls on the Government to match-fund income raised by the levy on the industry through the Horticultural Development Board.