To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many grants have been given to support organic farming in the UK in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) county and (b) the purpose for which the grant was given. [116931]
The table sets out by county in the years concerned the number of agreements with farmers in England in respect of aid under the Organic Farming Scheme to support conversion to organic farming. Aid paid elsewhere in the UK to support organic farming is the responsibility of the devolved Administrations and the Northern Ireland Department.On 5 June 2003, I launched a modified Organic Farming Scheme which offers support to existing organic farmers, in order to encourage the continued management of organic land in an environmentally beneficial way, as well as supporting conversion to organic farming.
| County | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | Total |
| Avon | 29 | 45 | 49 | 123 |
| Bedfordshire | 3 | 7 | 8 | 18 |
| Berkshire | 8 | 13 | 15 | 36 |
| Buckinghamshire | 13 | 21 | 26 | 60 |
| Cambridgeshire | 12 | 23 | 26 | 61 |
| Cheshire | 31 | 61 | 69 | 161 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Cornwall | 76 | 118 | 128 | 322 |
| Cumbria | 27 | 45 | 52 | 124 |
| Derbyshire | 27 | 45 | 47 | 119 |
| Devonshire | 221 | 329 | 364 | 914 |
| Dorset | 67 | 113 | 124 | 304 |
| Durham | 5 | 9 | 9 | 23 |
| East Sussex | 34 | 64 | 71 | 169 |
| Essex | 14 | 24 | 28 | 66 |
| Gloucestershire | 56 | 102 | 115 | 273 |
| Greater London | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Greater Manchester | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Hampshire | 18 | 37 | 46 | 101 |
| Hereford and Worcestershire | 79 | 121 | 138 | 338 |
| Hertfordshire | 7 | 8 | 10 | 25 |
| Humberside | 10 | 18 | 22 | 50 |
| Isle of Wight | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Kent | 33 | 59 | 63 | 155 |
| Lancashire | 22 | 27 | 30 | 79 |
| Leicestershire | 20 | 33 | 35 | 88 |
| Lincolnshire | 41 | 66 | 75 | 182 |
| Merseyside | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 |
| Norfolk | 29 | 50 | 60 | 139 |
| North Yorkshire | 47 | 81 | 86 | 214 |
| Northamptonshire | 10 | 14 | 16 | 40 |
| Northumberland | 20 | 33 | 45 | 98 |
| Nottinghamshire | 10 | 15 | 16 | 41 |
| Oxfordshire | 25 | 35 | 43 | 103 |
| Shropshire | 39 | 67 | 79 | 185 |
| Somerset | 61 | 105 | 120 | 286 |
| South Yorkshire | 6 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| County | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | Total | |||||
| Staffordshire | 27 | 49 | 54 | 130 | |||||
| Suffolk | 25 | 40 | 45 | 110 | |||||
| Surrey | 6 | 11 | 14 | 31 | |||||
| Tyne and Wear | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Warwickshire | 15 | 22 | 25 | 62 | West Midlands | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| West Sussex | 16 | 35 | 40 | 91 | |||||
| West Yorkshire | 14 | 18 | 19 | 51 | |||||
| Wiltshire | 70 | 126 | 143 | 339 | |||||
| Grand Total | 1.284 | 2,113 | 2,384 | 5,781 |