§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the current state of the cereal sector.
§ Mr. CurryThe 1989 cereals harvest in the United Kingdom was 22.4 million tonnes, the fourth largest on record. About 5 million tonnes of this is surplus to domestic demand: I expect that this will find an export market elsewhere in the Community or be exported with Community export refunds to third countries. There is a good supply of milling wheat on the home market, and imports are likely to contribute no more than about 15 per cent. of United Kingdom millers' requirements. Intervention stocks are at lower levels than in recent years. Prices of cereals are generally above last season's levels, except for breadmaking wheat, on which premiums have narrowed. The Commission's proposals for the 1990 price fixing provide for further devaluation of the green pound. We shall be pressing for a devaluation which keeps us on course for the elimination of all monetary gaps by the end of 1992. Information on farm incomes from cereals is to be found on pages 66 and 68 of "Agriculture in the United Kingdom: 1989", which was published on 6 February.