§ Mr. Alpassasked the Minister of Agriculture when the remaining parts of the Agriculture Act, 1947, will be brought into operation.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsAn Order in Council has been made bringing Parts II and III of the Act, together with the relative schedules, into operation as from 1st March, 1948. Part II deals with the8W responsibilities of owners and occupiers to manage and farm their land in accordance with the rules of good estate management and of good husbandry, while Part III deals with the relationship of landlords and tenants of agricultural holdings by amending and extending the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1923. The Order in Council also brings into operation as from the same date Section 95 dealing with special directions to secure production and Section 101 dealing with the provision of equipment and services for pest control.
Owing to administrative difficulties it has not been possible to arrange for Part I of the Act, dealing with guaranteed prices and assured markets, to be brought into operation on 1st March. It is, however, the intention to bring this Part into operation by the beginning of April. This slight delay will be in no way detrimental to producers, since the machinery already in operation for fixing guaranteed prices in advance and providing assured markets corresponds to that provided for in Part I of the Act.
I am not yet in a position to say when it will be possible to bring into operation Part IV of the Act dealing with Smallholdings, and the remaining Sections of Part V dealing with statistics and with pest control. I hope, however, that this can be done before the end of this year.