§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pedigree and commercial producers have attended(a) training programmes and (b) cattle management programmes in each of the last three years, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [133346]
§ Mr. PearsonThe information requested is as follows:
Training Programmes
The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise provides a wide range of training programmes for all farmers in a number of subject areas. In general courses can be classified into five main areas:
- Practical skills courses,
- Legislative courses,
- Technical courses,
- Environmental training courses,
- Business management training courses.
Training programmes are available to farmers, farm family members and farm workers. The number of pedigree and commercial producers attending these programmes is not recorded by CAFRE. The total number of people attending training programmes across Northern Ireland in the last three years is:
- 2000–01—6,153 participants
- 2001–02—6,046 participants
- 002–03—9,281 participants
Information on participants is not available by parliamentary constituencies.
Cattle Management Programmes
The number of pedigree and commercial producers, by County, who have attended Breed Cattle Improvement learning programmes since delivery commenced in October 2002 is illustrated in the following tables:
2002–03 Numbers of producers Pedigree Commercial Antrim 56 130 Armagh 17 89 Down 36 116 Fermanagh 52 80 Londonderry 34 142 Tyrone 52 234 Total 247 791
2003–04 Numbers of producers Pedigree Commercial Antrim 0 13 Armagh 0 24 Down 0 19 Fermanagh 0 26 Londonderry 0 25 Tyrone 0 68 Total 0 175 Currently there are 60 pedigree producers and 111 commercial producers participating in learning 527W programmes. A further 101 commercial producers have been invited to commence training before the end of October.
Delivery of the Cattle Health Management learning programmes commenced in May 03. The number of producers who have attended learning programmes is illustrated in the following table. Participants on this learning programme are not recorded by their commercial or pedigree status.
Numbers of producers Completed training Currently in training Antrim 16 0 Armagh 14 0 Down 25 26 Fermanagh 0 15 Londonderry 12 17 Tyrone 27 35 Total 94 93 A further 111 producers have been invited to commence training before the end of October.