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Question to Elin Jones
posted on 30/11/2009

Lorraine Barrett: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Assembly Government’s agri-environment initiatives?

Elin Jones: Changes to agri-environment schemes, transitional arrangements and the launch of the new Glastir scheme were covered by my statements in May and July. The development of Glastir continues in close consultation with key stakeholders, with a submission to the European Union expected in the first half of 2010.

Lorraine Barrett: I am sure that we all want to see the most efficient use of farmland in Wales to maximise income for our farmers, as well as to become more environmentally friendly. Yet, according to The Little Book of Meat Facts, which is partly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, just 5 per cent of land in Wales is designated for crops. Research conducted by some of the big supermarkets shows that people like to buy local produce, particularly fruit and vegetables, and I wonder whether you would look at opportunities for increasing the amount of land available to grow fruit and vegetables for the domestic market.

Elin Jones: I agree, and since becoming Minister I have been keen to remind everyone that Welsh schoolchildren and patients cannot live on lamb alone. We need cabbages and potatoes, and all other kinds of produce if we are to increase the amount of food procured by the public sector—a wider range of food than is currently produced in Welsh agriculture. That is why I have commissioned, and will soon be publishing, a horticultural strategy for Wales, which will look at farmers producing more fruit and vegetables—especially vegetables. I also undertook a change to the single farm payment regulations as they existed last year, whereby I have made it possible for payment to be made on land that is converted to horticulture. Previously, if there was conversion to horticulture, that land would not have been eligible for single farm payment, which was a real disincentive to horticultural conversion. I am keen, with the publication of the horticultural strategy, to be accommodating towards these aspirations that I think we share.