LONDON British apple growers fear labour shortages could force them to leave fruit rotting on trees because of government restrictions on the number of foreign workers allowed into the country as pickers.

As harvesting of the earliest varieties gets under way, farmers are `extremely concerned` about attracting sufficient people to work through until the end of the season in mid-October. They are predicting a labour shortfall and blame it on a combination of the government slashing the number of foreign students allowed to work and the strength of the euro against the pound.

“If we can`t get the pickers, there is a grave danger that apples will be left on trees and over-mature. Frankly, by then it won`t be worth the cost of picking them, so they will be left unpicked,” said Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples and Pears, which represents 430 growers. “That would be an absolute tragedy and quite shocking at a time when there are reports of food shortages.”

Farmers expect a good crop of apples this year, though rising fertiliser and fuel costs could see a 15 per cent rise in prices. Pears, however, were severely affected by spring frosts right across northern Europe, leading to an estimated 20 per cent shortfall which will push up prices even more. “We will almost certainly see higher prices in the UK market,” said Barlow. “Growers have incurred massive cost increases and they desperately need money to invest in new orchards, packaging and storage facilities.”

But it is the changes to Saws, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme, which concern them most. Originally 25,000 agricultural students from non-EU countries, including Russia and Ukraine, were allowed temporary entry under Saws each year to harvest the UK`s fruit and vegetables. But Home Office fears over illegal immigration led to a tightening of the scheme. Today, those from most EU countries require no permission to work in Britain, and Saws is restricted to just 16,250 students from Romania and Bulgaria. The highly sought-after workers from Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia are excluded altogether. And Saws is to be abandoned completely in 2010.

“It was an excellent scheme and we are lobbying hard to see it restored,” said Dr Chris Hatfield, the National Farmers` Union`s horticultural adviser. “Something like 97 per cent of those who came returned to their own countries. But the government has made a mistake of mixing it up with migration issues.” As a result, labour shortages have already affected the soft fruit industry, including strawberry growers.Robert Mitchell, of Foxbury Farm near Sevenoaks, Kent, said there were real concerns for this year`s apple harvest “It is extremely worrying because we have such a short harvest window. When the crop is ready it has got to be picked. You can`t be rushing around desperately trying to recruit 20 or 30 people who don`t exist when the crop is rotting.”

He and his brother, Ian, are third-generation fruit farmers and produce 5,000 tonnes each year, requiring an extra 100 workers at harvest time. “We think we are fully booked, but quite often people don`t turn up,” he said.

“The bottom line is, if there are not enough pairs of hands on the farm when a crop is coming towards the end, the farmers will just have to shut the gate and walk away, leaving good, unpicked British produce still on the plant. That is criminal,” he added.

Melvyn Newman, of Newmafruit Farms, hires 200 seasonal workers for his 1,200 acres in Kent. “It`s getting more and more difficult,” he said. “Two or three years ago we had a flood of people knocking on the door. Now there are very few coming and looking for jobs.”

Part of the problem is that the foreign pickers, once grateful for the GBP6 per hour a fruit picker earns for this physically demanding job, can now earn more elsewhere. “Change that back into euros and it`s against them,” said Dave Morton, who runs Aston Fruit Farm, near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. “So they are now more inclined to go to the eurozone, where they will earn more money, and we are losing out to France, Holland and Belgium.”

Getting British recruits is impossible. He needs 14 extra workers to harvest his 400 tonnes of dessert apples. “I am very worried about it,” he said. “Having them signed up, and having them here at the back end of the season, are two different things. Under Saws, you liaised with the universities and the dates were agreed with the universities.

“Now people can come and go when they please. If they say they will work until the middle of October, then decide to go home at the end of September, we are suddenly left with a big problem.”—Dawn/ The Guardian News Service