§ 9. Mr. John Hallasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much agricultural land has been lost for food production in the 15 years 1940 to 1954 inclusive; and how much it is estimated will be lost in the 10 years 1955 to 1964 inclusive.
Mr. AmoryI have had prepared an analysis of such information as is at my disposal; owing to its length I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. HallWould my right hon. Friend agree that the published figures show a rapid increase in the amount of land sterilisation? In view of the vital need there is for an increase in food production, does he not think that the time is now approaching for a national land policy, or does he think that there will be a sufficient increase in food production to more than offset the increasing loss of agricultural land?
Mr. AmoryNo one dislikes losing one acre of agricultural land from agricultural production more than I do, but we must keep this matter in perspective. When my hon. Friend looks at the figures he will see that over the last 15 years there has been a loss of only 1½ per cent. in the total agricultural land. I shall be very disappointed indeed if we cannot make up that many times over from increased productivity.
Mr. T. WilliamsWill the Minister also record in the OFFICIAL REPORT the area of land reclaimed over the same period?
Mr. AmoryPerhaps the right hon. Gentleman would ask for that informa- 1626 tion separately, as I do not think that it will be included in these particular figures.
Following is the information:Precise figures of the loss of agricultural land for food production are not available. Such information as is available about land losses is derived from the agricultural returns. But the main object of the collection of these returns is to estimate crop and livestock production. For this purpose it is sufficient and convenient to exclude holdings of one acre or less and those parts of agricultural holdings not used for agricultural production. It follows that an appreciable amount of land is not included in the official statistics. There are also, no doubt, some holdings of over one acre which have never rendered a return.The following statement summarises reported changes in the use of land over the fifteen years 1939–54.
Acres (thousand) Net addition Net loss Building development and mineral working 382 Government Departments(1) 402 Sports grounds 34 818 Woodlands and forestry 295 Allotments 25 320 1,138 Recovery of flooded and derelict land 44 Summary of corrections and adjustments over the period(2) 550 — -594 544 Acreage recorded at June, 1939 28,823 Acreage recorded at June, 1954 28,279 544 (1) Included In this are airfields, military establishments and land used by Government Departments for all other purposes. (2) Included in this are such items as the addition of some 250,000 acres to the area of agricultural holdings in 1941, when the introduction of animal feeding stuffs rationing produced applications from many holdings previously not enumerated. Changes under the above headings are not proceeding at a uniform rate. For example, the land shown as taken by Government Departments was mostly taken during the war years, when the annual net loss to Government Departments was about 100,000 acres. In every year since 1944 there has been a net addition to the agricultural area of land returned by Government Departments averaging 23,000 acres a year.It is impossible to estimate what further losses of agricultural land will take place during the next ten years, but I would refer by hon. Friend to the reply given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Norfolk, Central (Sir F. Medlicott) on 25th October.