§ Mr. Heddleasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide an estimate of the United Kingdom glasshouse growers' fuel costs per acre in comparison with the fuel costs per acre of Dutch glasshouse growers.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe United Kingdom glasshouse growers fuel oil costs per acre for the principal crops are estimated as:
Early tomatoes (planted late January/early February) £17,100 Main crop tomatoes (planted early February) £14,100 Cucumbers(planted mid-March) £11,700 Early lettuce (planted mid-October) £ 1,000 Late lettuce(planted mid-November) £ 1,700 Comparable information on fuel costs per acre for Dutch glasshouse growers for the categories listed above is not available.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of (a) British and (b) Dutch glasshouse growers have access to natural gas supplies; and what percentage of growers in each country use fuel oil.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThis information is not available in the form requested. However, it is estimated that in Great Britain over 90 per cent. of the heated glasshouse area is heated by oil (including paraffin) and approximately 1 per cent. is heated by gas. It is estimated that in the Netherlands over 90 per cent. of the glasshouse area is heated by natural gas, with the remainder using oil.