Tesco to sell products from low-carbon farm

Tesco plans to start selling potatoes and other crops grown on a farm hosting trials for emerging innovations that have potential to decarbonise food production.

- REBECCA SPEARE-COLE

The supermarket recently unveiled its arable “low-carbon concept farm” in Lincolnshire, a multiyear commitment launched in January to test methods of reducing planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions caused by farming.

Farmers recently started testing some of the new products and techniques on various crops in the fields of Langrick Farm, near Boston.

Tesco is working in partnership with potato supplier Branston and collaborating with pea, wheat and broccoli suppliers on a seven-year crop rotation to minimise disease and boost soil health. Branston has been using some of the lower-carbon techniques across 20 acres on the farm.

The company said it expects to harvest about 520 tonnes of potatoes from that section, which could supply about 260,000 2kg packs of potatoes to Tesco shelves later this year.

Plans also involve trialling innovations over the next few years that range from robotic tilling, low-nitrogen crop varieties and alternative fuels to biomass heating, pollinator cover crops and anaerobic digesters.