HIGHER OUTPUT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 7

HIGHER OUTPUT

PRIMARY PRODUCE

N.Z.'S EFFORT DURING WAR

Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, this day Figures to show the increase in primary production during the war years were quoted by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Roberts, in the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives this morning. A s l ar butterfat was concerned said the Minister, average production for the ftve pre-war years was 189 900 tons, whereas for the last five vears the average was 191,500 tons The current year's estimate was 193 000 tons. '

For wool the pre-war average for t h£ :,_ fiv , e Y e f rs was 134,000 tons and in the last five years the average was 148,000 tons, with the current year's estimate of 166,000 tons oh a greasv basis, a new record for wool production. In such \i,al commodities as wheat, oats, maize, peas and potatoes there had been an increase of 57,600 acres in the last five years, in addition to which linen flax had been developed. With regard to grass seed, the average for the last five years was 73,820cwt exported, and the average for the previous five years was only 61,520cwt. In vegetables the average for the three years prior to the war was 80,000 tons, a total that had jumped to 160,000 tons for the last three seasons. The average for meat in the three pre-war years was 470,000 tons, as against the average of 526,000 tons for the last five seasons. .In the seven years prior to Labour taking office, the farmers' income averaged £47,700,000, but the average for the seven years under the Labour Government was £71,800,000. ' An Opposition Member: Bad money. Compliment to Farmers Mr. T. L. Mac Donald (Nat, Mataura) said the Minister had paid a tremendous compliment to the farmers, who had been carrying on under extreme difficulties, not only during the war years, but during the Labour term ,of power. Not all members of the Government were prepared to. extend„the same compliment to the farmers. He contended that the policy of the Government had driven production from muchneeded butterfat to wool production. The big stocks of wool provided a big problem to-day. As far as buttter was concerned, he would willingly go without supplies at all if it would help the Mother Country, but he felt the situation could have been better met by a greater stimulus to production. There had apparently been little effort to do that. - There had been no real drive to galvanise the primary industries to anything in the nature of a super effort, and it was a super effort that was required.