69. Major Lloydasked the Minister of Food what has been the proportion of home-produced eggs to imported eggs released for distribution during the past two months as compared with the corresponding period of last year; and what is the reason for the difference.
§ Mr. WebbThe figures for the eight weeks ended 16th May this year are 86 per cent. home-produced and 14 per cent. imported. The figures for the corresponding period last year were 69 per cent. and 31 per cent. respectively. The difference has largely been due to this year's bad 17W weather, which resulted in smaller supplies from overseas. Another factor is that this year we arranged for increased quantities to be oil-dipped and stored overseas so that they could be distributed later in the year and so help to even out the level of supplies.