Written question asked by Michael Meacher (Labour) on Friday, 26 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 April 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Monday, 19 April 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 assessment she has made of the involvement of grainseed in the conduct of the National List trials for Chardon LL in 1998 and 1999 on behalf of the British Plant Breeders Society and the impact on their reseach findings.

Answer: Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the involvement of Grainseed in the conduct of the National List trials for Chardon LL in 1998 and 1999 on behalf of the British Plant Breeders Society and the impact on their research findings. [164962] Mr. Morley: A thorough evaluation of ail the data used for the assessment of Chardon LL in National List trials was conducted by the independent experts on the Herbage Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) group. The group recommended that the 1998 Grainseed data were acceptable as part of a valid assessment of the performance of Chardon LL. However, the group recommended that the 1999 Grainseed data should be excluded because of substandard plant populations. This was done and data from a reserve site used instead.

Secondary information