asked the Minister for Agriculture if, in view of the reports regarding the quality of wheat and oats produced in Éire during the harvest of 1943, which, if true, point to the danger of inferior seed for the coming sowing season, he will state what steps he is taking to ensure that a sufficiency of seed of both cereals which will be of good quality, true to type, and with a high percentage of germination and purity will be available to growers at the earliest possible date and at a reasonable price.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wheat and Oats Seed.
I am not aware of reports of the nature suggested in the Deputy's question. Provided that supplies of wheat and oats available are properly cleaned for seed purposes there is no reason to anticipate that the quality generally will not be up to a reasonable standard. For the past few seasons my Department has had in operation a scheme under which a substantial quantity of spring seed wheat was assembled by seedsmen under a guarantee against loss in the disposal of unsold residues of their stocks. This arrangement has secured that the quantity of high-class seed was, each season, more than enough to meet requirements. It will be in operation again in the 1943-44 season. In addition, maximum prices for seed wheat have been fixed by the Emergency Powers (Cereals) Order, 1943, which also prescribes standards of germination and moisture content. The quantity of seed oats of good quality which will be available for sale through trade channels will depend on the extent to which growers of oats will be prepared to dispose of their grain to seedsmen in a position to clean and prepare it for seed purposes. In the past few seasons seedsmen were able to procure only limited supplies, but it is hoped that, with the present free market in oats, larger quantities will be made available by growers.
Is the Minister aware that the wheat season is now approaching and that there is not a sufficient supply of seed of good quality in some areas?
That may be true locally in West Cork but there are a number of other areas in which quite good seed can be secured.
Is the Minister serious when he says in spite of Deputy O'Donovan's question, that he does not agree that there is a danger of inferior seed for the coming season?
I said that I am not aware of any such report.
Then the Minister must be in complete ignorance of the farmers' views on the matter.
I am probably in a better position than the Deputy to know.
Not at all. The difference between me and the Minister is that I am handling hundreds and thousands of barrels.
In one area.
In one of the best tillage districts. Is the Minister satisfied that sufficient seed wheat of a germination up to the standard laid down by his Department will be available for the coming year?
Yes.
Is the Minister further aware that to meet the increased acreage under his latest Order —it will be practically doubled assuming there is full compliance with the Order—he will require practically double the amount of seed wheat required last year? Would the Minister inquire even now, with three parts of the season over, what is the position with regard to their seed wheat and whether they are satisfied they will have an adequate supply of seed, which comes up to the Government's standard, for next spring? I am sorry to have to say to the Minister that I think the answer he will get from the seed assemblers will be that they are not. They will tell him that they are not in nearly as good a position as last year.
Is the Minister aware that the most popular brand of seed, Atle, is practically a 50 per cent. mixture? What is the intention of the Department in this respect? Is there any prospect of getting a purer mixture?
Will the Minister say what inspections have been made of seed assembly to date? Have any reports of inspections reached his Department? Will he also tell the House what provision he has made for inspecting crops prior to harvesting? I suggest that the best way to guard against a mixture of different varieties is to have a crop inspected while it is growing. I suggest that it is difficult to detect mixed seed once the crop is harvested. It would be interesting to know what provision has been, made in this connection.
Will the Minister avail of the services of his inspectors to obtain a detailed report of the actual position of the potato crop in West Cork? There is a considerable reduction in the quality and the quantity of that crop and the position is a very serious one.
And the same can be said of many other parts of the country.
At the last meeting of the Cork County Committee it was indicated that the inspectors all agreed that the position in West Cork was very serious, not alone with regard to potatoes, but in connection with wheat and oats.
Can the Minister give any guarantee that the seed will be true to type? The Minister said that he had heard nothing about reports concerning the seed wheat and seed oats in West Cork. Surely he is in touch with the county committee there and he must have heard from them what the position is.
Is the Minister aware that one of the difficulties about distributing seed in areas like West Cork and Mayo—congested areas—is that the seed assemblers are charging the retail distributors the maximum price, thus leaving the retail distributors no profit margin? The retail distributor has no inducement to accumulate supplies for the small grower and I suggest that unless steps are taken this year to provide a reasonable margin between the assemblers and the retailers, the difficulty of supplying the farmers of West Cork and Connacht, where large parcels of wheat are not usual, will be just as great this year as last year, and the position might be even worse.
With regard to purity of type, I consider the inspection of crops for seed to be the function, the business, of the seedsmen and not of the Department. The best way to see that this is done properly is to withdraw the assemblers' licences where that business is not carried out. These assemblers, if they join the scheme outlined by the Department, must give a guarantee with the seed with regard to germination and moisture—not in all cases as regards purity; that is another matter that is being dealt with in a different way. We have now got a number of these seedsmen to try to improve the varieties and to bring them true to type, but that will take some time.
In the meantime, I do not think there is anything very wrong in having slight impurities in those crops. If there are impurities to the extent of 5 per cent., 10 per cent., or 15 per cent., it does not represent too much of a difference in the commercial value of the wheat, though it might make a difference in time. With regard to potatoes, I can assure the Deputy from West Cork that we get constant reports with regard to the potato crop. I might say that the reports are varied. In some areas the crop is better than it was last year, and there are areas where the crop is not so good.
I suggest that you consulted the Consultative Committee of Agriculture a month too late. In Tipperary we budgeted for 33? per cent. of tillage and a week ago it was found that there would be 5 per cent. extra. That 5 per cent. presumably would be wheat. We are short of wheat seed, as most of our wheat has gone to the mills. The position is that we will be 5 per cent. short with wheat seed in the case of most of the Tipperary farmers.