§ Mr. Martin JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the estimated(a) loss of United Kingdom apple orchards, (b) cost of grants in the United Kingdom, (c) cost of grants across the European Union and (d) cost of grants in the Mediterranean European Union nations under the European Union's grubbing-up grant; [21866]
(2) what estimates he has made of the effect of the European Union grubbing-up grants on the United Kingdom's trade balance in (a) apples and (b) dessert apples. [21857]
§ Mr. JackGrowers in the EU have applied to grub about 28,000 hectares of apple orchard. In the United Kingdom we have accepted 271 applications into the scheme covering 2,432 hectares. However, it will be some time before we have details of the final outcome of the 1994–95 apple orchard grubbing up grant scheme since acceptance of an application does not necessarily lead to grubbing.
On trade, "English Apples and Pears" says that the 90 per cent. of English apple growers staying in the industry are delighted that a significant reduction in the surplus of European apples is in prospect. They are confident that with the modern orchards planted in recent years they will, in future, be better placed to produce even higher quality apples in the range of varieties the UK consumer wants.