HC Deb 20 July 1978 vol 954 cc776-8
9. Mr. Walter Johnson

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the Potato Marketing Board took up 500,000 tons of potatoes in February; and what is the estimated tonnage of these potatoes which will have to be ploughed into the ground.

Mr. Bishop

Because of depressed returns to producers in the first part of the current season, the Potato Marketing Board, with the approval of my right hon. Friend, put a support buying programme into operation. Prices were slow to respond until late in the season, when free stocks were reducing rapidly.

Of all the potatoes contracted under the buying programme, the volume left unused at the end of the season represents only about 3 per cent. of the 1977 British crop, which at 6.2 million tonnes was the biggest for three years.

Mr. Johnson

Will my right hon. Friend give the real facts? Does he not agree, first, that the Potato Marketing Board purchased 542,000 tonnes of potatoes in February—of which 240,000 tonnes have rotted—at a cost to the taxpayer of £10 million as a subsidy to the farmer, and secondly, that this forced up the price of potatoes from 3p a pound to 5p a pound? Is it not time that the Potato Marketing Board was wound up as it is merely an adjunct to the National Farmers' Union?

Mr. Bishop

In reply to an earlier Question. I stated that the average retail price of potatoes this year is less than half what it was a year ago. We should keep this matter in perspective. There is a net surplus, as I said, of only 3 per cent. in a crop totalling 6.2 million tonnes. That is a small surplus when we consider all the problems facing the industry—the change in eating patterns since 1976, when there was a very severe drought and potato prices went very high, changes in yield, changes in consumer demand and so on. I think that I and the House would be much more worried if there were a shortage of 3 per cent. instead of a surplus. In all the circumstances, I think that the outcome is very commendable. At the same time, the PMB and the guarantee have an important role to play.

Mr. Scott-Hopkins

What is the right hon. Gentleman's estimate of plantings for the year 1978–79?

Mr. Bishop

I cannot give the figures to the hon. Member at present, but I hope that the plantings will be adequate to ensure that supply and demand are in balance when the time comes.