§ Mr. Freudasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what quantities of potatoes under contract to the Potato Marketing Board are under notification of deterioration; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BishopWhen the Potato Marketing Board receives notifications from producers of deterioration occurring in contracted stocks, and when this is confirmed, the potatoes are moved where possible to meet stockfeed orders. At this time of the year the demand for potatoes as stockfeed falls away but the likelihood of deterioration increases. So far the Potato Marketing Board has been unable to move about 25,000 tonnes of potatoes where deterioration has occurred.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in view of Her Majesty's Government's policy of support for small firms, he is satisfied that potato subsidies restricted to companies with a minimum throughput of 10,000 tonnes per annum remains in the best interests of the whole industry.
§ Mr. BishopThe scheme of assistance to potato processors announced in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hughes) on 6th February—[Vol. 943, c.457–8]—was introduced to deal with a short-term problem which threatened to reduce substantially the uptake of potatoes for certain processing uses, and thus to increase 180W the surplus which had depressed market prices earlier in the season, as well as having serious effects on employment and the balance of payments. In order to limit the aid to the categories where the need appeared to be greatest, and to frame the scheme in such a way that it could be operated within the Potato Marketing Board's staff resources, a number of conditions were applied, including the one mentioned by the hon. Member. The scheme, which is drawing to a close as the end of the season approaches, appears to have met the main objectives while reducing the cost of the joint support buying programme.