NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE U.K. HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRY

In the present context it would be well to comment upon the interpretation made both of 'policy' and 'horticultural industry'. Neither is narrowly defined, but policy is regarded as the philosophy of action and the action itself - past, present and future; realised or unrealised - taken in the form of legislation by the government and considered by them to be in the producers' interests. Somehow, one's sympathies generally seem to lie with producers. This attitude of mind is apparent again in the connotation horticultural industry. This is the body corporate of individuals or firms who have elected to employ economic resources in the physical production of what are called horticultural crops.

From this starting point, there follow a number of tenets which guide and condition the writer's approach to the subject in hand. These tenets are:

1. that commercial horticulture has now emerged as a feature of economic activity: in industrialised countries it is supported from a condition of high personal net incomes; in non-industrialised countries it is a desirable way of utilising a natural resource, usually climate;
2. that this feature is commendable and durable, being purely an outgrowth of circumstances, and is wrongly considered as a source of luxury products;
3. that this feature (i.e. commercial horticulture) will have a faster rate of economic growth than the agricultural sector as a whole;
4. that commercial horticulture is one way in which society can benefit from the scientific and technological progress for which it pays;
5. that both as a supplier of many highly-appreciated items of a complete diet and as an efficient source of fresh, green food, commercial horticulture justifiably comes within any national scheme for the welfare of the agricultural sector.