Norfolk Poppy fields could vanish because of new European Union rules on crop production, environmentalists fear.

Poppies have thrived in recent years on land left uncultivated as part of the EU “set-aside” policy to stop over-production. But now EU politicians want to boost cereal crop production to tackle food shortages. They have ruled that farmers do not have to leave fields uncultivated this year. The set-aside policy — introduced 20 years ago — could be abandoned by next year. Wildlife enthusiasts are concerned that the poppy could be a victim of the change.

“There are fewer fields of poppies around this year, and that's because of the change in the set-aside rules,” said David North, education manager at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. “Just driving around Norfolk, you can see that. You notice the odd one that is there more than ever. The set-aside policy has been good for poppies and many other wild flowers.”

Two years ago the trust said that some of Britain's most famous poppy fields had been lost because of intensive farming methods. A survey found that there were no longer any fields of poppies in an area of Norfolk known as Poppyland. The travel writer Clement Scott gave the Norfolk coast between Cromer and Overstrand the name in the 1880s, in recognition of the scarlet landscape.

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