§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will assess the capability of the length of time for which(a) agricultural, (b) agroforestry and (c) horticultural research projects are funded by his Department with the biological systems which they are designed to assess; and if he will assess the benefits of more long term research funding in respect of the longer rotations in organic systems. [67661]
§ Mr. RookerResearch is funded for an appropriate length of time bearing in mind the particular biological and agricultural systems being investigated. However, in many cases it is not appropriate to let an individual contract which covers the whole period of the research. Instead, the research is funded by a number of consecutive contracts. This assists the management of the research and allows changes of priorities and redirection during the course of the work. This holds for all of the Ministry's agricultural research including that on organic systems.