Coronavirus: Prince Charles encourages jobless and students to pick fruit on farms

So far, the Pick For Britain campaign has struggled to recruit workers

Prince Charles has called on people who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic to pick fruit on farms. AP Photo

The Prince of Wales has joined the British government in urging students and employees furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic to apply for seasonal farm work.

To support British farmers and growers trying to recruit workers for the harvest period, the government launched the Pick for Britain website last month to also provide opportunities for jobseekers.

The campaign will give Britons the chance to make some extra money amid the Covid-19 crisis and to help feed the nation until autumn.

"At this time of great uncertainty, many of our normal routines and regular patterns of life are being challenged," Prince Charles said in a video recorded at his Scottish home of Birkhall on Tuesday.

"The food and farming sector is no exception. If we are to harvest British fruit and vegetables this year, we need an army of people to help.

"Food does not happen by magic. It all begins with our remarkable farmers and growers.

"If the past few weeks have proved anything, it is that food is precious and valued, and it cannot be taken for granted.

"This is why the great movement of the Second World War, the Land Army, is being rediscovered in the newly created 'Pick for Britain' campaign."

The Women’s Land Army was a British organisation that took over agricultural work in the Second World War.

Charles urged the "new Land Army" to take on the "hard graft" of the harvest, although he called the job "glamorous and at times challenging".

So far, the Pick for Britain campaign has struggled to recruit and keep workers, but the intervention of the heir to the throne might change that.

Many farms in Scotland, in particular soft fruit growers, rely on seasonal labour.

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, said he was sure British workers and students would seize the chance to feed the UK and help the economy in the most challenging of times.

“Together, the UK government, industry and workers will save the Scottish strawberry and our other delicious produce,” Mr Jack said.

In March, the British government said those who were furloughed because of the coronavirus and were allowed to work for another employer could take on this seasonal work.

They could continue to receive 80 per cent of their salary under the job retention scheme.