§ 21. Professor Savoryasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that in South Antrim and County Armagh there are 9,500 acres of orchards and that present growers are in a serious plight because, whereas in 1948, with an average crop, 18,019 tons had been exported by February, 1949, this year, after a bumper crop, only 10,382 tons had been shipped to this country, while shops in London are flooded with Italian or other imported apples; and what steps he proposes to take to safeguard the future of this industry, in view of its importance to our food supply.
§ The Minister of Food (Mr. Maurice Webb)The crop in Northern Ireland consists almost entirely of cooking apples.
1534 The difficulty in marketing them was due, not to imported apples, which were mainly eating varieties, but to the heavy crop of cooking apples in Great Britain and the fact that much of the crop was of poor quality and had to be marketed quickly.
§ Professor SavoryWill the right hon. Gentleman make further inquiries? I think he will find that there was a very excellent supply of eating apples in Northern Ireland which could not reach the British market because of the importation of foreign apples.
§ Mr. WebbI have made a good many inquiries into this and I am satisfied that the great bulk of the crop was cooking apples.