§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what he is doing to promote environmentally sensitive agriculture throughout England.
§ Mr. RyderThe Government promote environmentally sensitive agriculture through a wide range of measures. In particular, under the environmentally sensitive areas scheme, 10 areas have now been designated in England. The agriculture improvement scheme has since 1985 encouraged farmers to invest in environmentally beneficial items, such as hedges, shelter belts, dry stone walls and farm waste control. A major objective of my new farm woodland scheme which comes into operation on 1 October 1988 is to enhance the environment.
We have taken a number of initiatives to reduce the risk of agricultural pollution. These include controls on the use of pesticides and the issue, free of charge, of the code of good agricultural practice.
In addition to those measures, my Departments Agricultural Development and Advisory Service provides farmers with free advice on environmental matters on request.