§ 12. Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many tons of potatoes were produced in Great Britain during each of the past four years; and if he will also give the selling price per ton.
§ Mr. BishopAs the question calls for a number of statistics, I will, with permission, circulate them in the Official Report.
§ Mr. WainwrightWill my right hon. Friend give comparable figures for potatoes which have been produced in the other EEC countries? Will he bear in mind that if the price of potatoes in the United Kingdom is kept at a very artificially high level, higher than prices on the Continent, that would be a great disadvantage to the processed potato food producers in this country, in that cheaper potatoes in the EEC countries would allow cheaper potato processed foods to come to this country?
§ Mr. BishopMy hon. Friend will be aware of the discussions which are under way concerning the future of the Potato Marketing Board and the potato regime generally. It is important to encourage our producers to produce and at the same time ensure that reasonable prices are available for the consumer.
§ Mr. PowellWill the Minister point out to his hon. Friend the Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wainwright) that if he wants the figures for the United Kingdom, he should ask for them?
§ Mr. BishopThe figures which have been asked for will be in the Official Report.
Mr. WellsWill the Minister explain to the House the fact that the weather conditions have a very big effect on the supply of potatoes, and that therefore in many years it is not a particularly profitable crop?
§ Mr. BishopWe are expecting or estimating a surplus of some hundreds of thousands of tons, but there may be significant wastage as a result of frost damage and for other reasons.
§ Mr. Robert HughesIs it the case that many thousands of tons of potatoes have been bought off the market and destroyed in order to keep up the price? If so, is it not just as wrong to destroy them as to keep a mountain of them?
§ Mr. BishopI think that my hon. Friend will be aware of the need for a buying-in programme to give stability to the market. Surplus potatoes are also used for feedstuffs, which is very helpful.
§ Mr. WelshWhat consideration has the Minister given to the creation of a separate guaranteed price system for seed potatoes, in order to encourage a quality product for export, as well as for United Kingdom use? What lessons has he learned from the Dutch Government in this respect?
§ Mr. BishopEnsuring that the consumer gets good quality potatoes is a matter for the Potato Marketing Board, but the Ministry is in very close touch on these matters.
The information is in respect of potatoes grown in Great Britain in the crop years listed. The average prices relate only to sales through merchants licensed by the Potato Marketing Board, and do not take account of other, unrecorded, sales:
| Estimated total Great Britain production | Total sales through licensed merchants | Average price for sales through licensed merchants | |
| Crop year | (tons) | (tons) | (£/ton) |
| 1974–75 | 6,392,000 | 4,112,205 | 25.80 |
| 1975–76 | 4,241,000 | 2,609,851 | 105.63 |
| 1976–77 | 4,388,000 | 2,534,734 | 131.61 |
| 1977–78 | 6,060,000 | 3,341,025 | 43.75 |