§ 17. Mr. Bullardasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air on how many airfields in the charge of his Department the grass is conserved by drying or conversion into silage; and what proportion this is of the total number of airfields.
Mr. WardSeventy-five airfields, or 29 per cent. of the total. I should like to make it clear that these represent about two-thirds of the airfields at which grass drying would be possible. In addition, there are nearly 100 airfields where the major part is let for unrestricted agricultural use.
111WMy noble Friend has for some time had the whole question of the agricultural use of airfields under close review, in co-operation with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, and he has specially charged the President of the Airfield Board to investigate the possibilities of further increasing the production of food from this source.