04 July, 2012

Farmers are being warned that the booming slug population could pose a threat to crops.

The slug population, which farmersguardian.com believes has increased by 50 per cent this year, has been supposedly thriving thanks to the warm, wet weather the UK has been experiencing in recent months.

As a result, fruit and vegetable farmers are warning of potential crop shortages - which could cause the prices of crops on the market to increase - while domestic gardeners have also been told to err on the side of caution.

In addition, soil temperatures have fallen from 14C to 6C in many areas of the UK, meaning that crop growth has slowed down to the extent that crops are unable to 'grow away' from predators.

Dr Richard Meredith, of Bayer Crop Science, has lamented the explosion in the slug population on scotsman.com: "The conditions over the past couple of months have been really good for the slugs to reproduce. As long as it's wet and warm, they just keep going.

"They like the rain and now we've had months of it the slugs are thriving. If it carries on the way it is, we can expect to have a serious challenge with protecting crops. It's a real threat to British agriculture."

The Horticultural Development Council estimates that slugs cost farmers £8 million a year.

Source: Vertical Leap