HC Deb 20 April 1971 vol 815 cc938-9
30. Mr. Charles Morrison

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will consider conducting field trials of new varieties of soya beans and maize which could be grown economically in Great Britain.

Mr. Anthony Stodart

Field trials on maize are being conducted by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Services in conjunction with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. No field work is being done on soya beans, as conditions are not suitable for growing them economically in this country.

Mr. Morrison

Is it not a fact that soya beans are being grown further and further north in Europe now? Will my hon. Friend look at this question again and see whether it might be worth while to conduct trials with soya bean, since there is considerable scope for import saving with soya bean as well as maize?

Mr. Stodart

The import-saving potential for maize is £89 million and for soya £36 million. Soya needs a much warmer climate than we have, and it is an extremely sensitive plant to the length of day. Even after what we did with British Standard Time, I am not quite sure that it could be said to have done any good in this sphere, and I still do not think that our conditions would suit soya.