§ 69. Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what amount of subsidy was paid during the last financial year to potato growers for producing potatoes; and what amount was produced.
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§ Mr. HareOwing to the time lag of claims and the different accounting periods of the Government and the Potato Marketing Board, payments in any one financial year do not bear a direct relationship to production.
During the financial year 1958–59 a subsidy of £6½ million was charged to my Ministry's Vote in respect of potatoes purchased from the 1956 crop. There were no surplus potatoes from the 1957 crop. Production in the United Kingdom was approximately 7.5 million tons in 1956 and 5.7 million tons in 1957. Final figures for the 1958 crop are not yet available.