§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, of the 65,000 acres of agricultural land in England and Wales lost to agriculture annually, what proportion is taken up by the Forestry Commission and used for private woodlands.
§ Mr. StrangNone. This figure excludes the transfers of agricultural land to the Forestry Commission and private woodlands.
The annual average for these transfers using the five-year period 1968–69 to I972–73—the latest information available —was 12,400 acres.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the 65.000 acres annual loss to agriculture compares with the last 25 years' average.
§ Mr. StrangThe annual average transfer of land from agricultural use in England and Wales for the 25-year period 1948 to 1973—the latest year for which information is available—excluding land for forestry, was 38,120 acres.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, of the total acres of land in England and Wales of 37 million acres on the assumption that 14 million acres is arable land, 9.8 million acres permanent grass and 4.65 million acres rough grazing, what attempts have been made to upgrade a proportion of the remaining area of 28.5 million acres for agricultural purposes.
§ Mr. StrangMy Department has no direct information relating to the remaining area of approximately 8.5 million acres. This must, however, consist mainly of land covered by cities, towns and villages, roads, inland water and forest or woodland and is thus largely not available for agricultural purposes. The residual land within the area not so covered and so ostensibly available for agricultural use is likely to be fragmented 419W and any necessary upgrading would in all probability be disproportionately costly; no attempts to upgrade it have been made by my Department and none are contemplated.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of total agricultural land in England and Wales may be classified as underdeveloped and susceptible to upgrading from rough grazing by modern agricultural techniques.
§ Mr. StrangIt is not possible to say what percentage of rough grazing land in England and Wales could be upgraded by modern agricultural techniques. The improvement of grassland is, however, a major concern of my Department's Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, which has recently launched an advisory campaign aimed at securing better use and conservation of grass. In addition, as foreshadowed in the 1975 White Paper on the Annual Review of Agriculture (Cmnd. 5977), further study is in hand of ways of encouraging better use and conservation of grass, including selective financial incentives. Grants for grassland regeneration are available in hill areas.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, of the loss of approximately 65.000 acres of agricultural land in England and Wales to urban, industrial and recreational development, what is the breakdown of the industrial figure by broad classification of industry.
§ Mr. StrangI regret that this information is not available.