§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the number of farming units within the EEC in 1974; and what was the number at the latest available date.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe best available information is as follows:
Number of agricultural holdings of 1 hectare and over Million 1974 EEC, excluding Italy and the Irish Republic 2.9 1976 EEC, excluding Italy and Irish Republic 2.7 NOTE. This information is published in "Eurostat Year Book of Agricultural Statistics" by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (SOEC), and in the Annual Reports by the EEC Commission "The Agricultural Situation in the Community". It has not been collected for Italy since 1970—when there were 2.2 milion holdings—and was collected for the Irish Republic only in 1970 and 1975. There were 0.3 million holdings in both years.