HC Deb 22 July 1963 vol 681 c1023
1. Mr. Wingfield Digby

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will seek to introduce a scheme to give financial inducements for the amalgamation of uneconomic holdings.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Christopher Soames)

The Agriculture Act, 1957 already provides for grants towards the costs of creating economic units out of uneconomic parcels of land. But I have the problem under review.

Mr. Digby

Will my right hon. Friend appreciate that this is one of the great problems of the future in farming? Although I know that the process is taking place gradually, is there not a lot to be said for accelerating it? May that not be best in the interests of all concerned?

Mr. Soames

This problem is experienced not only in this country but in all developed countries. My hon. Friend may or may not know that in the last ten years, from 1952 to 1962, there has been a reduction of no less than 12 per cent. in the number of holdings, and there has been an increase of about the same amount in holdings of over 300 acres.