Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) maintain and (b) increase the proportion of land used for growing cucumbers.

Commercial cucumber growers in the UK require heated glasshouses.

In 2010, we introduced the National Planning Policy Framework which encourages sustainable growth in rural areas and promotes the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. We aim to remove the barriers to building glasshouse nurseries.

There are several examples where large industrial plants have constructed substantial heated glasshouse facilities adjacent to their factory to make use of surplus heat and carbon dioxide in horticultural production. The government supports innovative initiatives of this sort.