HC Deb 01 August 1978 vol 955 cc238-9W
Mr. Lee

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make an estimate of the number of extra jobs that will be needed to compensate for the loss of employment for agricultural workers that will be occasioned by the implementation of automation including use of microcircuits; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Strang

No. When my right hon. Friend the Minister recently referred to the need to consider the consequences of our entering the age of the microcircuit he did not suggest that we had reached the stage where an estimate could be made of the possible effects on employment of their use in agriculture.