asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will outline in detail the steps, if any, the Government are taking to encourage self-sufficiency in cereals.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cereal Production.
61.
As a member of the EEC, we had to abandon the system of officially guaranteed producer prices in favour of a levy system which operates against imports of cheap grain.
It is most desirable that we should achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency in cereals. The breeding and testing by my Department of cereal varieties most suited to our conditions, the official seed certification scheme, research into cereal diseases and grants for grain drying and storage on farms are all designed to this end.
Can the Minister tell the House what percentage of self-sufficiency we achieved in 1973?
About two-thirds. We were self-sufficient in wheat but we used only 75 per cent. In barley we are almost self-sufficient. We can export barley and there is a market always in the North of Ireland because there is a big deficit there.