The harvest of berries and fruits in the UK could perish this year due to a shortage of seasonal labor, reports Lenta.ru citing The Independent newspaper.
Previously, harvests were gathered with the help of workers from Poland and other Western European countries, but the fall in the pound sterling exchange rate and the rapidly growing economies of these countries led to an outflow of labor from the UK.
Another reason for the reduction in the number of workers was new rules restricting the entry of migrant workers into the UK. Under the new rules, 16,250 people will be able to come to the country for seasonal work, compared to 25,000 in 2007. The number of needed foreign labor in the UK is expected to decrease by 25% in 2008.
As The Independent notes, this could lead to local farmers being unable to independently harvest about 50,000 tons of fruit grown for the UK domestic market. Thus, horticulture, valued at 3.5 billion pounds ($6.8 billion), could suffer significant losses.
As a result of the reduced harvest, UK supermarkets will be forced to buy berries and fruits abroad to meet demand. This could lead to price increases for traditionally popular strawberries and raspberries, which in May cost about 2.5 and 2.99 pounds per kilogram.