A grower of exotic crops including squash and chilli peppers has been named Britain's Farmer of the Year.

Peter Barfoot, chairman of Barfoots of Pagham, near Chichester, was presented with the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today accolade after three decades of harvesting.

With fields stretching across West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the family-run company has gained a reputation for more unusual crops including courgettes, legumes, pumpkin, artichokes, rhubarb, marrow, asparagus and sweet potatoes.

They have supplied top UK retailers for 25 years, including Sainsbury's, providing the supermarket giant with an exclusive range of New Zealand Kumara sweet potato.

Company spokesman John Barfoot said: "We are delighted to receive this recognition."

John Maylam, Sainsbury's trading manager for produce, said: "We work very closely with our suppliers to ensure we offer the best quality produce.

"We are thrilled that Peter has won Farmer of the Year and would like to thank him for all his hard work over the last decade."

Based in Pagham Road, Barfoots grows, processes, packs and sells its own produce and other crops from around the world. It employs about 200 staff.

In 2001 Barfoots was voted British vegetable grower of the year, one of its farms was voted most environmentally friendly and Peter Barfoot was runnerup in the NFU's national farming entrepreneur of the year.

A spokesman said: "We are the largest European processor and packer of fresh sweetcorn products.

"We grow our vegetables using a combination of the very best traditional farming techniques with very modern cropping practices.

"We have a holistic approach towards the business. This enables us to successfully balance a sustainable, cutting edge and environmentally structured farming system with the production of high quality, commercially viable, fresh food."

Earlier this year Barfoots launched Butternut Mash, a new healthy alternative to mashed potato. It also recently opened offices in Spain.