Mr. Amoryasked the Minister of Food whether he will make such arrangements as will prevent a recurrence of the waste which arose from imports of foreign apples coinciding with the availability of last season's home-grown apple crop.
§ Mr. WebbI cannot agree that imports were the cause of any wastage of home-grown apples last season. Imports are still less than a third of pre-war, and mainly of eating varieties. I am assured that the difficulty in disposing of part of this year's home crop was due to the high proportion of poor quality cookers.
Mr. Amoryasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that, last season, growers in the West of England had difficulty in marketing their crop of cider apples owing to imports of foreign cider apples and cider; and whether he will ensure that next season first consideration shall be given to the marketing of the home-grown crop.
§ Mr. WebbImports of cider and cider apples in 1949 were very small in relation to home production and could have had no material effect on the marketing of the home crop of cider apples. Cider apples are normally imported only at times when there is a shortage of home-grown apples or for special blending purposes, and cider also is usually imported only for blending.