Potato Industry

HC Deb 16 November 2001 vol 374 cc980-1W

Mrs, Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the annual output of the UK potato industry in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what percentage of the land in England under cultivation is used for the production of potatoes. [14062]

Year	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	12000
Potatoes in the United Kingdom:
Volume of harvested production2	6,393	7,841	7,097	6,568	6,435	7,251	7,153	6.439	7,156	6,611
Value of production3	527	533	390	710	1,095	636	390	630	750	501
Area4	178	182	172	165	173	178	167	165	178	165
Percentage of UK total crop area	3.6	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.3	3.3	3.8	3.5
Potatoes in England:
Area used for potato production4	135	137	131	125	130	135	127	124	137	127
England total crop area4	4,222	4,244	3,839	3,804	3,865	4,016	4,244	4,229	4,005	3,982
Percentage of England total crop area	3.2	3.2	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.0	2.9	3.4	3.2
1 Provisional
2 Thousand tonnes
3 £ million
4 Thousand hectares

Source:

Agriculture in the UK