§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much land is used for horticulture in the United Kingdom and in the several countries of the EEC.
§ Mr. WigginFor 1977, the latest date for which comparable figures are available, the areas were:
Horticulture ('000 hectares)Family gardens* Belgium 47.7 27.3† Denmark 27.0 N.A. Federal Republic of Germany 161.7 317.8 France 540.9 257.4 Italy 1,000.2 60.9 Luxembourg 0.1 0.2 Netherlands 115.8 7.4 Republic of Ireland N.A. N.A. United Kingdom 262.5 2.4 N.A.=Not available. Source: United Kingdom June Census 1977 and SOEC Eurostat 1977. * "Family gardens" includes small family holding, the produce of which is sold. † 1976 figure. ‡ Includes 3.1 thousand hectares of citrus fruit. § Includes 163.3 thousand hectares of citrus fruit. This figure is of orchards not grown commercially. Note: Peas for harvesting dry are excluded from the above table because it is not possible to obtain comparable figures. The United Kingdom area under such peas in 1977 was 37,000 hectares.