33. Agriculture in contemporary Britain. British trade. Britain and Europe.

Agriculture, one of Britain's most important industries, supplies nearly two-thirds of the country's food, directly employs about 2.5 per cent of the working population. However, its share of the gross domestic product is less than 3 per cent — the lowest figure among the developed capitalist countries. British agriculture is efficient, for it is based on modern technology and research.

Nearly 80 per cent of the land area is used for agriculture, the rest being mountain and forest or put to urban and other uses. There are 12 million hectares under crops and grass. In hill country, where the area of cultivated land is often small, large areas are used for rough grazing. Soils vary from the poor ones of highland Britain to the rich fertile soils of low-lying areas in the eastern and south­eastern parts of England. The cool temperate climate and the comparatively even distribution of rainfall contribute favourably to the development of agriculture. Most of the land is owned by big landlords. Farmers rent the land and hire agricultural workers to cultivate it. Part of the land belongs to banks, insurance companies.

There are about 254,000 farming units, of which about a half are able to provide fulltime employment for at least one person and account for over 90 per cent of total output.

Britain produces nearly two-thirds of its total food requirements compared with some 46 per cent in 1960. Britain is self-sufficient in milk, eggs, to a very great extent in meat, potatoes, wheat. However, she needs to import butter, cheese, sugar and some other agricultural products.

60 per cent of full-time farms is devoted mainly to dairying or beef cattle and sheep. This sector of agriculture accounts for three-fourths of agricultural production in value. Sheep and cattle are reared in the hill and moorland areas of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern and south-western England.

There are three main types of farming: pastoral, arable, mixed. Arable (пахотный) farming takes the lead in the eastern parts of England and Scotland, whereas in the rest of the country pastoral (пастушеский) and mixed farming are prevalent.

As regards the cereals wheat takes the lead. It is cultivated on over 40 per cent of the total cropland with an average annual yield of 12 million tonnes. The crop is mainly concentrated in the eastern parts of the country. Barley follows next covering about 40 per cent of the total cropland with an average annual yield of 92 million tonnes. Barley prevails (преобладает) in the eastern parts of England, especially in East Anglia and in the south-east, as well as in Central Scotland. The potato crop is widespread all throughout the country. Sugar from home-grown sugar beet provides about 55 per cent of the requirements, most of the remainder being refined from raw sugar imported from developing countries. Sugar beet covers about 4 per cent of the total cropland.

Forestry. Woodland covers an estimated 2.2 million hectares, about 9 per cent of the total land area of the country, 43 per cent is in England, 43 per cent in Scotalnd, 11 per cent in Wales and the remainder in Northern Ireland. The Forestry Commission is the national forestry authority in Great Britain and is responsible for timber(древесина) production and forestry policy which includes wildlife conservation, the landscaping of plantations, and the provision of facilities for recreation.

British trade

But the national economy is vitally dependent on foreign trade. Moreover, this dependence is growing in recent years. About a third of the industrial productsof the country is exported. With the loss of the colonies the economy has had a lot of problems. The typical pattern of Britain’s overseas trade has been a trade deficit(when imports of products exceed in value the exports of the country). However the trade deficit is often offset by a surplus of on so-called invisible trade (earnings of the country from international travel, shipping, tourism, financial services). Invisible trade accounts for 1\3 of overseas earnings.

Britain made attempts to join EEC in 1963 and 1967. This ended in failure mainly due to the opposition of President Charles de Caulle of France. In the 1960-s the UK faced gradually increasing economic problems, mainly on international payments and the pound sterling. The growth rate of Br. Economy was the lowest in western Europe. So they were the main reasons for joining EEC.

Finally Britain joined EEC or Common market in 1973. And today the EEC represents 49% of Brish export and 53% of her import. The Federal Republic of Germany, the US, Japan, France, the Irish Republic and other developed countries are leading trading partners of Britain.

Foods represent about 10% of the total import bill. In the nation’s substantial food bill, the leading import items are fruit, vegetables, meat, beverages (tea, coffee, cocoa) and cereals(wheat). Crude oil is also important. But, as British workpeople are mainly engaged in manufacture, a lot of manufacture goods are exported and Britain has no raw materials, these raw materials, which can not be produce in the country, are purchased abroad.

The export abroad continues to be a major factor in its development. Britain export manufactured goods, including machinery and transport equipment, but chemicals and petroleum products are also important. So Britain is a major supplier of machinery, vehicles, aerospace products, metal manufactories, electoral equipment, chemicals and textiles.