§ Sir A. Bossomasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that the continuing trend upwards of the costs of food production when the realisation values of many products tend to go down will lead to shortages; and what steps he proposes to take to cure this situation.
Mr. AmoryFor most of the main farm products, the volume of home production is influenced primarily by the level of guaranteed prices rather than by market realisation prices. When considering future guarantees in the light of the forthcoming Annual Review, the Government will take account both of increases in farm costs and of trends in supply and demand, as well as of other relevant factors. In the case of horticultural products, realisation prices have on the whole tended to increase.