§ Mr. Brocklebank-Fowlerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plan he has for the orderly marketing of potatoes in the United Kingdom after 1st January 1978.
§ Mr. Bishop:The marketing season for the 1977 crop extends to the summer of 1978 and my right hon. Friend has given an undertaking that the price guarantee of £46.50 per ton (£45.77 per tonne) will be fulfilled for the 1977 crop as a whole. The arrangements for the 1978 maincrop season, which begins on 1st August 1978, are being assessed in the light of the EEC position and we hope to give guidance on the marketing and support arrangements for that crop by the end of the 1977 calendar year.
§ Mr. Campbellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on potato yields and 840W supplies this season in the light of the buying programme recently instituted.
§ Mr. Bishop:Potato yields are notoriously unpredictable. Our estimate in early October for the season as a whole indicated a yield of 30.7 tonnes per hectare for England and Wales maincrop, over 10 per cent. lower than we would expect in normal conditions. Little of the crop had then been harvested and it is now becoming evident on the basis of provisional results of the Potato Marketing Board's crop check weighing that the yield may be lower than earlier predicted. The crop should broadly meet requirements and a significant surplus in Great Britain is not expected. The buying programme recently instituted is designed to stabilise prices at realistic levels in relation to supply and demand.