蜜芽传媒

Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent has been growing soft fruit for over one hundred years and has been run by the same family since the late 19th century. The business now operates on a vast scale, producing 250 tonnes of strawberries a week, as well as raspberries and blackberries. It also has arable land, salad crops, meadows and woodland. Charlotte Smith visits the farm, which is between Sevenoaks and Maidstone, to meet the fourth and fifth generations of this farming family and find out why insects have become such a central part of their fruit-growing operation. As well as encouraging creatures like hoverflies and ladybirds by leaving wild areas on the field margins, they also buy in boxes of native insects to introduce into the polytunnels. These are carefully chosen for their ability to eat the pest insects which damage the fruit, so reducing the need for chemical pesticide. She also hears about high-tech detection devices which have been installed on the farm to monitor insect populations.

Producer: Emma Campbell