Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
research closely linked to industry would become the responsibility of private en-
terprise. In particular, he highlighted four developments in science and technology
of great significance to the horticultural industry: molecular biology; information
technology (IT); new concepts in the marketing chain; dynamics in health food
relations and production ecology. The need for strengthening basic sciences was
emphasised and those which he called “knowledge institutes” (universities and re-
search institutes) would be faced with repositioning themselves for three roles:-
knowledge creation; co-operating innovator; and knowledge brokering.
Horticultural Science's Changing Focus
The marketing of horticultural produce has changed rapidly and monumentally in
the past 25 years (Shepherd
2008
) and continues doing so. Chains linking grow-
ers, traders, processors, retailers and consumers are now controlled to a very large
degree by supermarket retailers. Supply systems are likely to evolve from largely
price-based competition to innovation-based competition. Consumers are seeking
increased localisation, regionality and identification of origin, as well as safe and
healthy nutritional foods. Electronics, nanotechnology and robotics offer opportu-
nities for interaction between primary producers and the ultimate consumers. Cus-
tomers and producers will interact directly with confidence and trust. Only the larg-
est producers will be capable of managing the infrastructure capable of servicing
this relationship and its dialogue which will reach beyond national borders. These
producers will own the intellectual property rights to production and supply systems
and commission their own R&D from these assets. This applies currently with great-
est impact on the supply of fresh and processed produce in food chains. As a result,
applied horticultural science is moving towards private sector provision at the same
time as the role of the crop producer is becoming more prominent in the consumer's
mind as responsible for the delivery of safe, reliable and health-enhancing products.
At the same time, aspects of research and development needed for environmental
and social horticulture, as described in other chapters of this Trilogy, are emerging
through economic evaluations of areas such as natural ecosystem services and the
quantification of social care within communities. An example of this approach is the
framework for environmental-economic decision-making which includes ecologi-
cal sustainability criteria, environmental costs, natural resource scarcity prices and
local peoples' preferences developed by Tiwari (
2000
). Here the geographic infor-
mation system (GIS) technique was used for evaluating ecological criteria and inte-
grating information for use in cost-benefit analysis. A cost-benefit analysis (CBA)
embraced external costs, such as environmental costs and scarcity value of water,
and ecological sustainability criteria. As stated by Hughes (
2007
), the
raison d'etre
of the global food industry is to satisfy the ever evolving requirements of consumers
worldwide. The dominating trends affecting consumer behaviour include: demo-
graphic changes; concerns about safety, health, well-being and nutrition; and an
inexorable search for convenience, particularly in urbanised communities. Across
