§ Mr. De Chairasked the Minister of Agriculture how much it would cost in a normal year to supplement prices received by growers, including any subsidies, deficiency payments, or levy payments, by sufficient margins to guarantee standard prices to cover the costs of efficient production for all agricultural commodities; and if he will state the sum required in respect of each commodity, separately, and the prices received by growers in a normal year, on which his calculations are based?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithI regret that the information asked for by my hon. Friend is not available. As I stated in the House on 1st February during the Debate on the motion proposed by the hon. Member for Devizes (Sir P. Hurd) it is far from easy to determine the costs of production of agricultural commodities. Nor is it practicable to indicate by precise figures the costs of "efficient "production.