Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that the large acreage of marginal land which is not now fully used could be utilised to increase substantially the meat supplies of this country, he will take steps to grant additional financial assistance to enable farmers to increase the productivity of this land.
Mr. T. WilliamsAs the hon. Member is aware, a number of important measures have been adopted with the object of increasing the output from marginal and hill lands. These include the Marginal Production Scheme, the grants for improvement of hill farms and the hill sheep and cattle subsidies under the Hill Farming Act, 1946, and the grants for water supplies, liming and farm drainage. Nevertheless the Government fully appreciate the desirability of ensuring that these lands make a full contribution to our meat supplies and is keeping this problem under continuous review.