Tomatoes will be available in Britain all year round with a move to grow them under LED lights in vast greenhouses through the winter.

The technology effectively removes the weather from the growing process and so puts an end to the traditional seasons.

The technology is being used by producers at Flavourfresh in Lancashire, across 12.5 hectares of glasshouses growing tomatoes. Installed between the vines and colored bright pink, the LED lighting supplements natural daylight so the crops can be grown all year round.

Changing the “recipe” of the light waves used on the plants, which are grown hydroponically* using enriched water rather than soil, delivers the desired flavor.

There is also some evidence from Holland that there are real health benefits from growing tomatoes in this way. Crops receiving extra light from the LEDs contained up to twice as much vitamin C as others.

Andy Roe, production manager at Flavourfresh, said: “The beauty of this technology is that it hands complete control over to the growers, who can monitor levels and adjust accordingly to ensure the best quality products possible are hitting shelves. ”

LED lights are relatively cheap to run and, consequently*, producing crops in this way is economically* viable* when set against the cost of transport and imports.

Growing salad leaves under LED lights in greenhouses takes just 35-40 days that compares to up to 112 days outside in a field. Consequently, the yield* is almost three times higher over the course of a 12-month period.(SD-Agencies)