§ Mr. P. J. M. Thomasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has now considered the Report of the Committee on the Technical Problems of Welsh Agriculture; and whether he will now make a statement.
§ Mr. John HareI have given preliminary consideration to this Report, which has been endorsed by the Agricultural Improvement Council. I have also obtained the observations of the Agricultural Research Council. Comments have also been received from a number of interested organisations, some of them only recently, and these are being studied.
I accept generally the need for further work in the directions recommended by the Committee, and in particular for continued team work by specialists concerned with the improvement of land and of grazings, and with animal husbandry and animal health.
The Agricultural Research Council and my Ministry are accordingly taking steps to develop their investigations in Wales. Soil survey reconnaissance mapping has already started in South Wales. Conferences of research and N.A.A.S. specialists are being called to review work on mineral elements, fertiliser requirements and metabolic disorders, and I hope that these conferences will help to show how further investigations into interaction of land improvement techniques and animal husbandry can best be organised.
The Agricultural Research Council is always ready to give sympathetic consideration to applications from Welsh university centres for research grants. They will also, in appropriate cases, consider
WHEAT Accounting Period Seasonal Standard Price per cwt. Ascertained Average Price per cwt. Deficiency Payment per cwt. Quantity Qualifying for Deficiency Payment Total Payments s. d. s. d. s. d. million cwt. £ million 1st July—30th Sept., 1958 … 25 6 19 6.7 5 11.3 10.6 3.1 1st Oct.—30th Nov., 1958 … 26 11 20 3.7 6 7.3 12.9 4.3 1st Dec., 1958—28th Feb., 1959 28 5 22 2.9 6 2.1 9.2 2.8 1st March—30th April, 1959. … 30 0 21 4.6 8 7.4 7.6 3.3 1st May—30th June, 1959 … 30 6 19 9.5 10 8.5 8.9 4.8 Payments in respect of the first four periods have already been made.
Payments for the period 1st May to 30th June, 1959 will be made in August.
142Wthe establishment in Wales of sub-centres of existing research stations. They are reviewing the programmes of certain of the stations whose work is of particular interest to Wales.
Although the Committee did not find any evidence that there were fundamental research problems which were peculiar to Wales, their Report will for a long time ahead be an indispensable guide for research workers, advisory officers, and all concerned with the technical problems of Welsh agriculture, and I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to the Committee for their invaluable work.