A WORLD renowned fruit research centre in Kent faces a tough new commercial future after being saved by a £12.3m Government lifeline.

East Malling Research (EMR), the new agency that has grown out of a shakeup of Horticulture Research International (HRI), begins work on April 1, thanks to a guaranteed six-year grant.

But the centre of excellence needs to win much more funding from the food industry if it is to maintain the trail-blazing research tradition established a century ago.

The unique site was threatened with closure after the Government axed guaranteed research funding. More than a third of the 140-strong workforce lost their jobs.

But influential figures in horticulture, Kent County Council and elsewhere convinced the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to back a rescue plan.

That deal was sealed at a ceremony when Defra minister Lord Whitty signed an agreement and symbolically planted a rare Prunus Iford tree, one of only 41 such trees in the world.

Under the plan, HRI will operate as two separate companies - Warwick-HRI - part of the University of Warwick - and EMR, which also has a site at Wye, near Ashford.

As the Chancellor of Exchequer, Gordon Brown, pledged more spending for science and research, Lord Whitty said the Government had rightly been criticised for "the volatility of our research contribution."

The "unprecedented" commitment to £12.3m until 2010 would help EMR establish itself.

He expected EMR to be a success but the Government's commitment would reassure staff and customers. "I wish EMR all the very best for the future you deserve," he told a large audience in the conference centre.

But he would not commit to further investment, saying he expected industry to contribute more.