asked the Minister for Agriculture what assemblers were discouraged from assembling stocks of Jufy wheat; and why they were refused licences for the importing of this variety.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Assembly of Jufy Wheat Stocks.
33.
All seed wheat assemblers were discouraged from assembling stocks of Jufy I seed wheat from the 1962 harvest because wheat of this variety had been found unsuitable for the production of a satisfactory flour under our conditions. Import licences were not granted for the same reason.
Is the Minister aware that this is the only variety of wheat that consistently stood up to the Halberg test, and does it prove that test a farce?
I am aware that scientists employed by my Department to determine this question grow and experiment with all the new varieties and they say that this variety, while a very good yielder, is suspect on other grounds. If these people, who have the technical knowledge and the training to engage in this work, give advice that this is a dangerous variety from our point of view, even though it has certain advantages from the point of view of yields, what are we to do?
We should like to know what the dangers are. What are the dangers?
It is not regarded as a suitable variety for conversion into flour.
It passed the tests that the millers——
Why is it called wheat if you cannot make flour out of it?
It all depends on the quality of the flour you want.
Is it simply not another device by the millers to get from the farmers the wheat that pays them best and not the wheat that pays the farmers best, or is the Minister telling us there is some inherent quality in this type of wheat which is calculated to imperil crops generally? Surely the Minister has a duty to require the millers to take wheat of reasonable quality that passes the standard test unless there is some other grave reason which he should be prepared to give the House?
I am advised by my scientists that this variety, while it may have certain attractions from the yield point of view, would not be suitable if grown in large quantities to meet our requirements in the production of flour and bread.