51. Mr. Vaneasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he has any information regarding the estimated yield of wheat and other corn harvested in 1946 in the eastern provinces of Germany; how these quantities compare with pre-1939 yields; and what proportion of the 1946 harvest will be delivered to the western provinces.
§ Mr. J. HyndI regret that I have no information on the first two parts of the Question. A recent trade agreement provides for the delivery of 100,000 tons of wheat and rye and 20,000 tons of fodder oats from the Russian zone to the British zone.
Mr. VaneDo not those figures represent only a very small fraction of the quantities which came to Western Germany in the last three or four prewar years from Eastern Germany?
§ Mr. HyndThat may be true, but we are talking in terms of the Russian zone of Germany as it is at the present time, and it should be borne in mind that the greater part of the agricultural areas in Eastern Germany are not in the Russian zone, but under Polish control.