§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research is being undertaken or financed by his Department into the costs, crop yields and incomes of farmers who minimise use of fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics.
§ Mr. CurryOver £18.5 million will be spent by this Department in 1989–90 on research concerned with pesticides and alternative methods of pest control to which it attaches high priority and from which the farming industry will benefit. A list of the projects being funded was given to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 1 December 1989, column471-80.
In particular, the Department has funded research at Boxworth experimental husbandry farm into the impact of 131W reduced pesticide usage on the farming environment and on crop yields and margins. Plans are advanced to extend this work to cover reduced fertiliser inputs as well. A copy of the final report of the Boxworth project will be lodged in the Library of the House when completed and published later this year. Antibiotic use is controlled by product licence under the Medicines Act 1968. The Department is actively funding research projects aimed at developing alternative methods of disease prevention.
The Department has also commissioned, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and the Welsh Office and with the assistance of the various organic farming associations, a study of the economics of the production and marketing of organically grown farm produce in Great Britain. The study is being conducted by the university of Cambridge in co-operation with the University college of Wales, Aberystwyth, and the North of Scotland college of agriculture. A full report is expected to be published in the spring of 1991.