§ Mr. David Steelasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money his Department has spent on plant and animal research in each of the past three years; and what has been the corresponding value of the products from these two sectors of the agricultural industry.
§ Mrs. FennerThe division between plant and animal research is not always clear cut; for example, research into grass and fodder crops, although plant research, is intended to benefit the production of animals. Some research such as that in soil science, buildings and engineering, although outside both the plant and animal categories is nevertheless intended to benefit the production of either or both of them.
The information requested is as follows:
£ million 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 Plant research 21.4 23.7 30.8 Animal research 13.7 16.7 20.8 Information about the Ministry's expenditure on research is given in more detail in the Ministry's annual "Report on Research and Development", copies of which are in the Library.
The value of output (ie sales off farms for processing or consumption) for the crops and livestock sectors in the last three years are as follows:
£ million 1979 1980 1981* Crops-including horticulture 2,745 3,014 3,365 Livestock and live-stock products 5,320 5,802 6,168 * Forecast Source: Annual Review of Agriculture 1982 (Cmnd. 8491)