HC Deb 07 June 1962 vol 661 cc87-9W
Mr. J. Wells

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what have been the acreages of old orchards on which grubbing-up grants have been paid in the past five years, setting out the information county by county; and what was the cost per county per year.

and synthetic materials, respectively, expressed as a percentage, was exported from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom, the Colonies, the United States of America, France and Germany for the years 1950, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961.

Mr. Maudling,

pursuant to his reply[OFFICIAL REPORT, 30th May, 1962; Vol 660, c. 137], supplied the following information:

Figures of production for the years in question are not available, but the fallowing percentages based on total exports by value show the changes which have taken place in Hong Kong's trade.

Mr. Vane

Since April, 1960, grants have been available under the Horticulture Improvement Scheme specifically for grubbing up orchards. In the year 1960–61 136 applications involving orchard grubbing were approved in England and Wales at a total cost estimated at £51,820 on which grant would be £17,273 and in 1961–62, 243 applications at a total estimated cost of £81,792 on which grant would be £27,264. I regret that detailed figures on a county and acreage basis are not obtainable without a disproportionate amount of work.

During the past five years applications for grants under the Farm Improvement Scheme, the Marginal Production Scheme and the Ploughing Grants Scheme have included a number for the reclamation of waste land involving in some cases the grubbing of derelict orchards, but I am afraid that the work involved in extracting the separate figures would not be justified.