Rothamsted Experimental Station

HC Deb 13 November 1997 vol 300 cc618-9W

Mrs. Anne Campbell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to continue the long-term experiments at Rothamsted Experimental station. [15854]

Mr. Rooker

Rothamsted is one of the three research sites making up the Institute of Arable Crops Research. MAFF is a major customer for research at IACR and will spend over —7 million in the current year. Rothamsted runs several long-term experiments, some of which have contributed information to the main MAFF research programmes at the site dealing with nutrient loss, soil organic matter and biodiversity. However, this core long-term work is funded by BBSRC and other funders and is not the direct responsibility of MAFF.