Growers want the government to help by increasing the number of work permits issued to foreign students.

This is clearly a ridiculous situation

Ben Gill, NFU President

Mr Gill said the labour shortage had led to a surge in imported fruit such as strawberries.

"We know of growers who have had to leave nearly �1m of fruit to rot because they can't find enough workers between April and November," he said.

"This is clearly a ridiculous situation and one which is depriving Britain of one of the delights of summer and preventing innovative British farmers from expanding their businesses to take advantage of the upturn in fruit consumption."

The NFU estimates that UK imports of strawberries rose 39% in the three years to 1998.

British growers currently supply less than half of the 72,000 tonnes bought annually in the UK, despite having a perfect strawberry-growing climate.

Student workers needed

The NFU said that the lack of fruit pickers in the UK is also aggravated by a shortage of foreign students available for temporary summer work.

Limits on the number of work permits issued to foreign students means growers cannot employ enough foreign students to do the picking.

The NFU has established an email address - nfu.crops@nfu.org.uk - to enable anyone who wants work as a fruit picker to get in touch.