Dutch Elm Disease

HC Deb 21 October 1971 vol 823 cc185-6W

45. Mr. Cormack

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of Dutch Elm disease have now been reported in England and Wales; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Prior

There are no statistics for England and Wales as a whole. According to the Foresty Commission's recent suvey of the worst affected areas, about 580,000 elms, or about 3 per cent. of the total elm population in those areas, have recently died from the disease or are very severely affected by it. A further 1,600,000, or 9 per cent., have slight to moderate infection.

Measures for containing the disease were announced in the reply I gave yesterday to my hon. Friends the Members for Woking (Mr. Onslow) and Worcestershire, South (Sir G. Nabarro).—[Vol. 823, c. 83.]