§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are satisfied that, in the event of a nuclear war, farmers should follow the advice given in Home Defence and the Farmer, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1958, in the absence of any other official advice to farmers; and
Whether the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's updated version of their booklet Home Defence and the Farmer will incorporate the latest findings by scientists to the effect that the use of less than 1 per cent. of the world's nuclear arsenal would plunge the earth into months of darkness and freezing temperatures, with only a few per cent. of normal sunlight reaching the surface of the planet, and whether it will contain advise to farmers about the action they should take after full-scale nuclear war, when scientists now believe that the entire northern hemisphere would suffer temperatures below freezing for more than a year.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)The material in the 1962 edition ofHome Defence and the Farmer and that to be included in the new version is still under consideration.