Horticulture Crop Protection Limited (HCP), the organization set up to take over plant protection applications following the wind-down of AHDB Horticulture, has made former AHDB funds available to crop associations for new crop protection activities.
The AHDB funds were originally passed on to HCP in the form of a grant to fund the new organization's setup and help support applications for horticultural crop protection authorizations.
HCP has been successful in securing voluntary funding from its member crop associations and is running efficiently. As a result, HCP is now able to make the majority of the original grant available to the member crop associations to use for their crop protection needs.
Simon Conway, CEO of HCP, explained: "We've put aside some reserves to support the day-to-day operations, protecting our cash flow, but it's only right that as much of the AHDB grant as possible can be used by the crop associations."
HCP will allocate the grant money to the fresh produce sectors that were AHDB levy payers. The original basis for subscription levels to HCP will be used to allocate the AHDB grant funds fairly. This means larger sectors will receive access to higher potential pots of funding.
To access the funds, the crop associations will simply submit invoices to HCP for relevant work. The only restriction is that the projects must be directly linked to crop protection. This includes but is not limited to any HSE application costs, residue and efficacy trials, MRL changes or operator exposure studies. It does not include the ongoing subscription costs which fund the daily work of the HCP team on behalf of GB Horticulture.
"The total amount available will be just over £600,000." Explained Simon Conway. "We are delighted to be able to make this funding available. I'm sure the relevant crop associations and their members will appreciate the boost this gives their associations."
All the crop associations were briefed on this news by Simon Conway at the British Growers Association AGM on 5th December 2024.
Source: Horticulture Crop Protection