§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list in the Official Report the total annual potato crop each 355W year since 1970 in each United Kingdom region; and what was the value of the crop in each region at current and at August 1976 sterling values;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report the total acreage devoted to potato pro-
Total Potatoes: Area and Production 1970 1971 1972 1973 '000 acres '000 tons '000 acres '000 tons '000 acres '000 tons '000 acres '000 tons England and Wales … … 513 5,729 492 5,784 458 5,188 436 5,408 Scotland … … 108 1,236 100 1,126 90 937 85 986 Northern Ireland … … 48 400 42 369 36 299 35 306 United Kingdom … … 669 7,365 634 7,279 584 6,424 556 6,700
1974 1975 1976 '000 acres '000 tons '000 acres '000 tons '000 acres* '000 tons† England and Wales … … … … 421 5,357 401 3,359 431 4,500 Scotland … … … … 80 1,034 76 882 83 Northern Ireland … … … … 31 292 27 239 37 United Kingdom … … … … 532 6,683 504 4,408 551 4,500 (223 hectares) * Provisional. † Estimate. It it not the practice of my Department to publish figures relating to the value of the crop on a regional basis and I can only refer the hon. Member to the figures for the United Kingdom as a whole published in the White Paper on the Annual Review of Agriculture 1976 (Cmnd. 6392).