§ Mr. Freudasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total acreage of the 1978 potato crop; and what was the acreage in each of the last four years.
§ Mr. StrangIt is as yet too early to be precise, but the Potato Marketing Board now estimates that about 447,000 acres—181,00 hectares—have been planted by registered producers in Great Britain. The comparable figures in the years 1974 to 1977 were as follows:
1974 … 467,000 acres (189,000 hectares) 1975 … 445,000 acres (180,000 hectares) 1976 … 482,000 acres (195,000 hectares) 1977 … 491,000 acres (199,000 hectares)
§ Mr. Freudasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has 15W been the annual import of potatoes in each of the last five years; and what is his estimate of 1978 potato imports.
1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 Seed potatoes ߪ ߪ ߪ 2,904 3,901 4,636 2,335 10,526 New potatoes ߪ ߪ ߪ 225,795 228,399 187,938 257,413 360,772 Other potatoes ߪ ߪ ߪ 3,510 2,163 181,043 371,251 216,783 It is difficult at this stage of the calendar year to estimate total imports for the whole year, but on the basis of the figures so far the Potato Marketing Board's forecast is that imports of new potatoes will be between 330,000 and 350,000 tonnes.