Straw Disposal

HC Deb 02 February 1984 vol 53 cc322-3W

26. Mr. Lord

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of Government-sponsored research into the problem of cereal straw disposal.

Mrs. Fenner

As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Mr. Bowden) on 17 November 1983, the Government are funding a major programme of research into straw use and disposal. This commitment, which amounts to nearly £2 million a year, includes research into the use of straw for animal feed and fuel and incorporation into the soil. It is nevertheless likely that for the foreseeable future the only satisfactory method of disposal for much of the surplus straw that is now produced is burning.

39. Mr. Andrew Stewart

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the work on alternative uses for straw and straw disposal being carried out at the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering.

Mrs. Fenner

Work at the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering on straw includes (1) the development of low draught, high speed cultivation tools for soil inversion with straw incorporation, (2) the development of methods for drilling into crop residues, and (3) the development of equipment for compacting straw for improved handling, transport and storage.

The work is only part of a much larger programme of work on straw disposal and utilisation being undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Agriculture and Food Research Council and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. Straw incorporation experiments, using different implements and methods on widely varying soil types, are being carried out on a number of sites by the agricultural development and advisory service of MAFF and the AFRC —Letcombe laboratory. In addition, much work is being carried out by ADAS and AFRC research institutes on straw as animal feed and, in particular, to enhance its feed value. MAFF is also supporting smaller projects, with other laboratories, on methods of straw burning and the use of straw in paper making.