§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest assessment of the effect of overuse of agricultural nitrates; and what resources his Ministry is putting into research on lower nitrate use.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Ministry operates various programmes to encourage sensible use of nitrogen fertilisers and to monitor the effects of such fertilisers on the environment. Our current assessment is set out at length in the booklet "Solving the Nitrate Problem" which is available in the Library of the House. The findings in the booklet are based in part on the R and D programme instituted by the Ministry to identify ways of reducing nitrate leaching from agriculture. In 1992–93 we are spending £6.9 million on this programme.