HL Deb 23 May 1974 vol 351 cc1675-6WA
LORD O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish a table showing, for each of the last five years, expressed in percentages, how much of each of the following items consumed

1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Wheat and flour (wheat equivalent) 55 59 54 49 47
Sugar (as refined) 69 69 70 68 67
Carcase meat and offal 28 32 27 27 28

For feedingstuffs the figures available are for imported concentrates, together with home production of cencentrates from

Crop years June-May
1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72
Feedingstuffs (concentrates) 52 49 53 52 48

Imported compound fertilisers as a percentage of deliveries of compounds represented 6 per cent. in 1970, 7 per cent. in 1971 and 11 per cent. in 1972. (Earlier figures are not available.) However, imported raw materials for processing in the United Kingdom represent about 50–60 per cent. of the nutrient value of all compound fertiliser deliveries.

Figures are not readily available to show countries with the most rapid rate of growth of exports of agricultural produce to the United Kingdom. The ten most important suppliers of agricultural produce to the United Kingdom in 1973 were, in descending order of total value of those supplies:

  • Denmark,
  • Netherlands,
  • France,
  • Ireland,
  • United States of America,
  • New Zealand,
  • Australia,
  • Canada,
  • Spain,
  • South Africa.
or used in the United Kingdom was imported:
  1. (a) wheat,
  2. (b) sugar,
  3. (c) meat,
  4. (d) feedstuff for livestock,
  5. (e) agricultural fertilisers;
and whether they will list the ten major growth countries.

LORD STRABOLGI

For the last five years for which figures are available, the percentage of imports of wheat, sugar and meat as a proportion of total supplies is as follows:

imported raw materials, as a percentage of estimated raw material content of all deliveries of concentrates.