§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been commissioned by the Government on the implications of the depletion of the ozone layer for agriculture in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. GummerThe Government will be spending over £0.5 million in 1993–94 on research to examine the effects of ultra-violet-B—UV-B—radiation on agricultural crops. The project sponsors, titles, contractors and estimated costs for 1993–94 are as follows:
Agricultural and Food Research Council
Effects of UV-B irradiation on cell cycle gene expression and DNA repair in developing wheat (Tricticum aestivum L.) leaves.
University of Manchester, with Horticulture Research International.
£54,000.
The molecular basis of UV-B perception and response in plants.
University of Glasgow.
£38,000.
Molecular mechanisms involved in UV-B induced changes in gene expression for photosynthetic proteins.
Horticulture Research International.
£43,000.
The interactions of enhanced UV-B and water stress on oil seed rape cultivars with differing UV-B sensitivity.
University of Cambridge.
£67,000.
Characterise the molecular basis of gene regulation by environmental stress, including UV-B.
Horticulture Research International.
£167,000 (1992–93 cost. 1993–94 estimated cost is unavailable).
Department of the Environment
Impact of increased UV-B radiation (the impacts of UV-B on natural and cultivated vegetation in the United Kingdom; mapping the risk of UV-B impacts on cultivated and natural vegetation in the United Kingdom; and, the impacts of UV-B on plant pathogens and host-pathogen interactions).
University of Lancaster.
£84,000.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Responses of crops to UV-B radiation.
University of Lancaster, with Horticulture Research International.
£74,000.