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The recent Royal Society report and the Field and Vegetable Task Force report have both highlighted the shortage of applied technical expertise available to the UK horticulture industry.  Reduction in government funding for applied horticulture research has led to a marked reduction in the pool of applied researchers available for employment in industry, research and advisory/agronomist roles.  In addition the loss of many relevant crops focussed courses and modules from Universities have led to a marked shortage of opportunities for undergraduates to be exposed to, and trained in, applied research in horticulture crop production compared to 10-15 years ago.  This limits the number of suitable candidates for technical roles in industry, research studentships, technical roles in universities or institutes, or agronomy and extension businesses.