Written question asked by Archie Norman (Conservative) on Tuesday, 31 August 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 October 2004. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Monday, 11 October 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the budget for (a) research and development in and (b) marketing support to the horticulture industry was in each year since 1997. - Inc table and figures.

Answer: Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the budget for (a) research and development in and (b) marketing support to the horticulture industry was in each year since 1997. [187500] Alun Michael: The Department's annual budget for research and development on horticulture and potatoes in England and Wales for the budget years 1997-98 to 2004-05 was as set out in the following table. In 2004-05 an additional £2,250,000 was set aside to support the guarantees provided to the University of Warwick and East Mailing Research following the restructuring of Horticulture Research International. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Financial year R&D 1997-98 12,202,000 1998-99 12,273,000 1999-2000 11,069,000 2000-01 11,021,000 2001-02 10,807,000 2002-03 9,804,000 2003-04 9,845,000 2004-05 9,422,000 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. There is no specific budget for marketing support to the horticulture industry but grants of £421,000 and £498,000 respectively were made to the industry under the Agricultural Development Scheme in 2000 and 2003. The industry also benefits from EU payments to producer organisations under the fresh fruit and vegetables regime of the common agricultural policy.

Secondary information