asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the estimated lime deficiency in land in the Republic; and what steps he proposes to take to correct it.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Lime Deficiency.
28.
Various estimates have been made. One of the most recent suggests a requirement of some two million tons of ground limestone a year in order to establish a technically optimum pH level in the soil generally.
Steps being taken to increase lime use include the Ground Limestone Transport Subsidy Scheme, the Fertiliser Credit Scheme operated in conjunction with the Land Project, the provision of soil sampling and soil testing services, as well as promotion by the general agricultural advisory services and the issue of leaflets and special publicity in the matter. My Department makes an annual grant towards the cost of the scheme operated by the County Cork Committee of Agriculture for the purchase by farmers of sea sand with a high lime content. Basic slag, a fertiliser on which a substantial State subsidy is paid, has a significant lime content.
Under the Ground Limestone Transport Subsidy Scheme the full cost of transporting ground limestone from the quarry to the farmer's premises is met by State subsidy; and this enables farmers to get their requirements of limestone delivered to their premises at a price not exceeding 16s per ton, the same price as operated in 1951 when the scheme was introduced. Deliveries of ground limestone under the scheme have been running at an annual rate of about 1½ million tons in recent years— an all-time record—compared with less than 300,000 tons in the first year of the scheme—1951/52.
More power to Deputy Dillon. He initiated all that.
(Interruptions.)
Would the Minister consider encouraging suppliers of ground limestone to utilise the services of distributing machines with broad wheels, such as they use on bogs, so that the distribution of limestone could be continued during winter weather when most farmers would not allow ground limestone to be distributed under present conditions due to the encroaching of ordinary tractor wheels?
Yes, we can consider that.
You might find that a fruitful plan.
Possibly.