Mr. J. Wellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make an examination of the recent agricultural returns, with a view to establishing as soon as possible the present position about blackcurrant acreages; and what advance information he has received from the National Agricultural Advisory Service about the expected trends in grubbing-up in the coming season.
§ Mr. Scott-HopkinsThe census results do not normally become available before the end of August, but it may be possible to produce a provisional estimate in a month's time. I have no advance 153W information on growers' intentions to grub up, since few growers will reach a decision before the crop has been picked.
Mr. J. Wellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a
BLACKCURRANTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES* Year Total acreage Output (thousand tons) Of which Percentage of output not sold on contract Average price per lb.† Quantity sold on contract (thousand tons) Quantity not sold on contract (thousand tons) On contract Not on contract‡ s. d. s. d. 1962 15,384 21.3 19.0 2.3 11 1 5 1 10 1963 (provisional) 16,567 29.7 19.4 10.3 35 1 1 1 1 Notes * All figures are subject to a margin of error. † These prices are estimated average prices per lb. at the farm-gate. ‡ Owing to a change in the method of calculation, "not on contract" prices for 1962 and 1963 are not strictly comparable with those for earlier years.