§ Mr. Shinwellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what volume of home grown potatoes produced since September, 1967, has remained unsold; what loss has been sustained by the farming community; and what measures he intends to adopt in order to avoid loss of such foodstuffs in future.
§ Mr. HoyThe 1967 potato crop produced a surplus estimated at about 580,000 tons. The whole of this quantity was bought by the Potato Marketing Board under the market support arrangements financed jointly by the Government and the Board. 247,000 tons were sold for stockfeed and the rest remained on farms and attracted compensation. Payments to farmers will be nearly £8½ million; consequently no loss will be sustained by them. As the yield varies widely from year to year, whilst demand is inelastic, some waste of potatoes is inevitable in years of high yield.