§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the June census set-aside figures for England for 1989, 1990 and 1991.
§ Mr. JackThe June census set-aside figures for England for 1990 and 1991 are as follows: for 1989 the census recorded set-aside land in the category "All other land on agricultural holdings". 351W
Set-aside was introduced as a census category only in 1990. Since it was a new category there was some uncertainty as to whether all set-aside land would have been declared as such. Some set-aside land may have been declared as bare fallow or other land. Therefore, for the purposes of determining the base area for the arable area payments scheme, the set-aside areas submitted to the EC Commission were based on actual set-aside agreements reached with farmers for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, which gave the precise areas in set-aside.
Land Use ('000 ha) 1989 1990 1991 Set-aside scheme land — 72 97 All other land on agricultural holdings 398 375 382