§ Mr. LAMBERTasked the Minister of Agriculture if he has any comparisons showing the production per acre of sugar beet in Great Britain as compared with Continental countries?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONThe average yield per acre of topped and washed sugar beet in Great Britain was 8.7 tons in 1929, as compared with an average of 7.6 tons for the years 1925–1928. The yields in Continental countries for 1929 are not available, but the average yields per acre for 1925–1928 in certain countries were as follow:
1780W
Tons per acre. Belgium 11.3 Czecho-Slovakia 10.5 France 9.3 Germany 10.0 Holland 12.9 arable land during the previous three years, and has he any statistics which will show the amount which has been laid down to grass or has been taken for building or other non-agricultural purposes?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONThe following table shows the changes during the past three years in the area of arable land, permanent grass, rough grazings and in the total area used for agriculture in England and Wales. The decrease in the last mentioned item may be taken as some measure of the amount of land taken for building and other non-agricultural purposes.
In comparing British with Continental yields, it should be remembered that the sugar beet crop has long been cultivated on the Continent, whereas it is a comparatively new crop in this country.
§ Mr. LAMBERTasked the Minister of Agriculture the amount paid in subsidy for the growth of sugar beet and the value of the beet sold off the farms for each year since 1924–25?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe amount of subsidy paid on sugar and molasses manufactured in British beet sugar factories, and the payments by the factory companies to beet growers in respect of washed and topped beets delivered to the factories in each manufacturing year since the date of the passing of the British Sugar (Subsidy) Act, 1925, have been as follow: 1781W
Year. Subsidy paid. Payments for washed and topped beet by the factory companies. £ £ 1924–25 509,200 480,720 1925–26 1,121,581 1,196,540 1926–27 3,324,197 3,323,280 1927–28 4,214,060 4,158,350 1928–29 2,824,936 3,561,430 1929–30 4,227,808 5,284,230