Agricultural expansion White Paper
The Minister says no separate White Paper on agricultural expansion is planned; agriculture is addressed in the Government’s regular economy-wide development plans.
asked the Minister for Economic Planning and Development if he proposes to publish a White Paper on an expansion programme for agriculture.
Comment on this
: It is not intended to publish a white paper solely in relation to an expansion programme for agriculture. Development plans for all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, are included in the documents prepared as part of the normal planning cycle which the Government have introduced.
The Government's recognition of the importance of agriculture was expressed in their pre-election manifesto which stated that agriculture could and should provide the main thrust for the recovery of the national economy. Policy options designed to secure its accelerated development are outlined in the forthcoming Green Paper. These will provide the basis for discussions of the changes that are now needed in order to expand agricultural output in the eighties and beyond.
The subsequent White Paper will take account of those discussions and consultations and indicate the policies to be pursued to achieve this objective.