§ Mr. Newensasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on chrysanthemum white rust disease and indicate the annual number of outbreaks reported in Great Britain since 1963;
(2) what steps he is taking to restrict the spread of chrysanthemum white rust disease and in due course eliminate it from Great Britain.
§ Mr. StrangI am sending my hon. Friend a copy of my Department's "Current Topics" for 6th December which explains in detail what is being done to control and eradicate chrysanthemum white rust disease. Copies of this document are also available in the Library of the House.
Annual figures of outbreaks of the disease in Great Britain have been as follows:
1963 … … … 1 1964 … … … 4 1965 … … … 56 1966 … … … 9 1967 … … … 1 1969—January … … … 1 November … … … 1 1971 … … … 2 1973 … … … 7 1976 … … … 219 to date