The department of environment food and rural affairs (Defra) also reports that total subsidies (less levies) paid to farmers rose by 4.5 per cent to £2.8 billion, while the United Kingdom's self-sufficiency in indigenous type food is estimated to be 74 per cent.
Self-sufficiency in all food types is estimated to stand at 63 per cent. The average producer price of agricultural products rose by 3.3 per cent while the average price of agricultural inputs rose by 6.8 per cent.
These and other findings are contained in Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2004, which was published this week. The document, which attempts to accurately capture the state of agriculture during 2004, includes information on farm incomes, the structure of the industry and prices.
Each of the main agricultural commodities is examined, and data on the economic accounts for agriculture, productivity and subsidies are included. The document also contains information on overseas trade, organic farming, conservation and land management, agriculture's impact on the environment and key statistics for EU member states.
The publication of the report follwos the recent EC agreement to provide €10.2 million in order to promote EU agricultural products outside the EU.
The programmes that have been accepted are targeted at North America, China, Russia, India, Japan and countries of Eastern and Central Europe. The products covered are wine, olive oil, meat and dairy products.
The EU offers financial support to generic promotion programmes for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries. Since 2001, it has approved third country promotion programmes for €61 million in total.