§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for(a) 1980, (b) 1990 and (c) the latest two available years (i) the estimated numbers of farmers and (ii) the estimated numbers of organic farmers, indicating (ii) as a percentage of (i). [4859]
§ Mr. MorleyFigures are available on the numbers of registered organic holdings rather than on the numbers of organic farmers as such. No figures are, however, available for 1980 and 1990.
Registered organic holdings and total main holdings in the United Kingdom in the latest two available years are given below. It should be noted that because the organic and general figures are collected on different bases they are not strictly comparable.
Year (A) Registered organic holdings (B) Total main holdings (C) (A) as percentage of (B) 1995 (June) 784 234,921 0.33 1996 (June) 867 234,268 0.37