Mr. T. Morrisasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can state the estimated loss to private farmers in this country through the incidence of poultry disease; and what steps are being taken to cope with it?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonThere are no data on which to base an exact estimate of the losses sustained by farmers through the incidence of disease among poultry. An unofficial estimate, however, puts such losses at £4,000,000 per annum. The question of poultry mortality is being reviewed by a technical committee set up by the Secretary of State for Scotland and myself, and the Agricultural Research 995W Council is paying special attention to research into poultry disease. In addition, under the powers of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1935, Orders have been made to protect poultry in this country from the importation of disease and to check the spread of infection by the disinfection of poultry markets and of receptacles used in the conveyance of poultry.