§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is now his estimate of the tonnage of(a) seed potatoes of each variety and (b) ware potatoes by market description, grown in Northern Ireland in 1992; what tonnages of each were sold for the home and foreign seed and for human consumption by category; and what are the differences between the present estimates and 1992's forecasts made at various dates by his Department.
§ Mr. AncramThe final estimate of marketable potatoes produced in Northern Ireland in 1992 is 282,000 tonnes. As regards the production of seed potatoes by variety I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given him on 2 April at column447. The estimated use of ware potatoes produced in Northern Ireland in 1992 is given in the following table:
Tonnes ('000) Human consumption 111 Internal processing 24 Sales outside Northern Ireland 31 Used for planting 15 Note: The information cannot be disaggregated further as requested.
Utilisation of the 1992 crop of seed potatoes is as follows:
Tonnes ('000) Certified seed for planting in Northern Ireland 20 Certified seed to Great Britain 8 Certified seed sold outside the United Kingdom 20 Disaggregation by variety of sales (in tonnes) to Great Britain and outside the United Kingdom is provided in the following table:
Variety Great Britain Outside the United Kingdom Arran Banner — 3,514 Desiree 380 7,318 Home Guard 553 786 Kerr's Pink — 1,508 King Edward 152 1,942 Pentland Dell 1,363 681 Record 33 447 Others, including protected varieties 5,493 3,396 TOTAL 7,974 19,592 The final estimates differ from earlier estimates in two respects-namely the total marketable yield and the area planted were adjusted downwards. The initial estimate of total marketable yield of 343,000 tonnes was reduced to 304,000 tonnes to take account of estimated harvesting 679W losses. The total area was reduced from 11,500 to 10,800 hectares as a result of revised census methodology. The latter change resulted in the estimated total marketable yield being further reduced to 282,000 tonnes.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many farmers received sums under the potato aid scheme for 1992's crop; what tonnage was(a) accepted and (b) had aid paid on them under that scheme; and what was the total sum expended.
§ Mr. AncramPayments were made to 523 growers; 41,793 tonnes were provisionally accepted under the scheme and 39,476 tonnes were purchased. Expenditure totalled £1,660,968.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his estimate of the tonnage of(a) seed and (b) ware potatoes grown in Northern Ireland in the current year.
§ Mr. AncramThis information will not be available until mid-December.