THE cold snap is set to prolong Britain’s food shortages, with crucial crops suffering in the freezing conditions.
Growers are racing to restock supermarkets with salad stuff and seasonal vegetables after shelves were left sitting empty for weeks.
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But the expected sub-zero temperatures will delay harvests of cucumbers and tomatoes, experts warned.
Meanwhile, last summer’s drought and harsh frosts at Christmas has stunted carrot, cauliflower, leek and cabbages crops.
It takes four to six weeks to grow cucumbers and 12 weeks for tomatoes.
Joe Shepherdson, of the Cucumber Growers’ Association, said: “Plants are going in more each week but harvest is still four weeks away and we have this incoming weather to deal with.
“Cold dark days delay plants. It slows them down. Plus you need extra gas to speed them up, which growers are reluctant to do”.
Jack Ward, of the British Growers Association, said we will see “stocks running low of carrots, leeks, cabbage and cauliflower”.
Salad items are rationed at supermarkets amid shortages and the cost of a cucumber is up from 45p to 75p.
Stores blame bad weather and poor harvests in Spain and Morocco where the majority of our winter crops come from.
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Growers here have been forced to leave greenhouses empty as energy costs soar.
Lee Stiles, of Lea Valley Growers, said: “It will take until April for cucumbers to be easy to find and we won’t be fixed on tomatoes until May.”
Meanwhile, cucumbers from Kent are on sale in an M&S branch in Singapore for £2.90 each.
