§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the United Kingdom's balance of trade with regard to organic produce in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [118298]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 7 April 2000]: No such figures are available. Organic products are not separately identified in Customs and Excise trade data.
§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of how many farmers will request support for conversion under the organic farming scheme before April 2001. [118300]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 7 April 2000]: None. The Organic Farming Scheme is closed to new applications while a review is underway.
§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are employed in the organic farming sector. [118297]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 7 April 2000]: We estimate the number of registered organic farmers and growers in the UK at the end of January to be 2,500. In addition to primary producers, we estimate that just over 1,000 operators are registered for processing and/or importing organic products.
§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research he has carried out into improving the efficiency of organic farming in the last three years; and what was the cost of the research. [118299]
57W
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 7 April 2000]: The three main objectives of the MAFF Organic research programme and the spend on these objectives for the last three years are as follows:
£000 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Constraints on production 801 1,320 1,828 Costs of the conversion period 34 53 49 Environmental impact 73 108 150 Total 908 1,481 12,027 1 Estimate