Hot weather pushes up price of fruit and veg

The dry summer and wet August of 2006 hit the harvests of crops such as potatoes, onions and apples, which have been held in storage through the winter.

The dry April this year has also been a blow to Spring crops such as lettuces, tomatoes and cucumbers, according to official figures.

The increases will particularly affect the elderly, who are the biggest consumers of fresh produce.

The price of onions, which were harvested between August and September last year, is up 38 per cent to 75p a kilo.

Apples have seen a rise of 13p a kilo - 11 per cent - to an average of £1.29. 'Old' potatoes, those harvested last year and then stored, were selling at 55p a kilo in April. That is a rise of 8p a kilo - or 17 per cent - on the same month last year.

This year's new potato crop were selling at 89p a kilo, which was up by 17 per cent on the price at the same time last year.

Looking at this year's salad crops, the increase for tomatoes works out at 28 per cent -or 36p a kilo - taking the average price to £1.62.

The price of an iceberg lettuce is up by almost 38 per cent compared with April 2006 - at 99p versus 72p.

Cucumbers have risen in price by 6p each - 8 per cent - to 81p.

Other staple items have also seen big increases, according to the figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics.

The price of a dozen medium eggs is up 22p to £1.81, while a pint of milk has risen from 33p to 37p.

The price hikes are particularly steep because UK produce shortages cannot be made up by imports from Europe, where many farmers have suffered freak weather conditions.

Most European states experienced sweltering temperatures and drought last year.

Spain, which supplies many salad crops to the UK, has also been hit this Spring by downpours which have wiped out many crops.

The chairman of the British Tomato Growers Association, Gerry Hayman, said it was important to grow more produce in the UK, rather than relying on imports.

"Down here in Cornwall, 25 years ago there were 25 commercial marliflowerket gardeners," he added."Now there are none."

Rob Burrows of the British Potato Council said the UK crop was around 5.5million tonnes last year, down from a normal average of around 6million.

He blamed the fall on the drought Britain suffered in 2006.

However, he said the outlook for the next few weeks was brighter, as harvests were increasing. The result is that farm prices are falling - something that will soon be passed on to shoppers.

The chairman of British Onions, Tim Wigram, said the UK crop fell to around 350,000 tonnes last Autumn, compared with a more normal figure of between 370,000 and 400,000.

Similar decreases have been seen for crops such as broccoli, peas, cauand carrots.

Mr Wigram said: "We have very hot weather in June and July last year followed by a very wet August.

"The net effect was a very poor quality harvest. It also meant there was less premium product.

"Because the onions have been of a poorer quality, the return per hectare was pretty average."

He said the onion crop which is currently in the ground was not helped by a dry April, although the wet May has boosted growth.