§ Mr. E. Wakefieldasked the Minister of Food if he will state in respect of the years 1949, 1950 and 1951, respectively, the acreage of potatoes grown in the United Kingdom, the tonnage of potatoes harvested, the tonnage of potatoes purchased by his Department, excluding seed potatoes, the amount paid by his Department for these potatoes, the tonnage used 193W by his Department for human consumption, the amount charged by his Department for these potatoes, the tonnage sold by his Department for raw stock feed,
Crop Year (a) 1949 1950 1951 (b) 1. Acreage 1,308,000 1,235,000 1,050,000 2. Estimated total production (tons) 9,035,000 9,507,000 8,284,000 3. Quantity purchased by Ministry of Food, excluding seed potatoes (tons) (c) 921,219 913,271 900,000 4. Amount paid for potatoes in (3) £9,832,853 £8,311,624 £11,000,000 5. Quantity sold by Ministry of Food for human consumption (tons) 583,094 187,106 125,000 6. Amount charged for potatoes in (5) £7,038,440 £2,327,469 £1,735,000 7. Quantity sold by Ministry of Food for raw stockfeed (tons) 299,371 649,895 700,000 8. Amount charged for potatoes in (7) £1,317,027 £2,874,727 £3,100,000 Notes: (a) The figures given relate to crops planted and harvested in the year stated at the head of the columns, disposal of which is continued in the following year. They include the Northern Ireland crops. (b) For 1951 items 3 to 8 inclusive are estimates. (c) Part of the tonnage purchased by the Ministry was disposed of by processing or was exported and part is accounted for by normal shrinkage in the clamps.