PRODUCTION
The corresponding figures for 1952 were 46,043 tons of local and 12,071 tons of imported with a total wholesale value of $17,082, 103.
The Scheme for the establishment of collecting centres run entirely by farmers progresses satisfactorily. Five new centres at Fanling, Ta Ku Ling, Ngau Tam Mei, Hung Shui Kiu and Tsun Wan were started during the year. The collecting centre in Fanling, which is the second to be established in this district, and the collecting centre at Kutung which was started in 1951, have subsequently been registered as CO- operative vegetable marketing societies. By the end of 1952, about 35% of all locally grown vegetables were being handled by registered co-operative marketing societies and farmer-operated collecting centres.
One of the main problems of the local farmers in recent years has been the lack of a cheap fertilizer. This problem has now been solved to a certain extent by the inauguration of a scheme for the maturation and distribution of night-soil (human excreta).
The Organization has continued to receive valuable financial assistance from Colonial Development and Welfare funds. Grants and loans from this fund have been used to purchase a fleet of 29 diesel engined lorries and helped in the establishment and running of village vegetable collecting centres and depots in the main agricultural districts in the New Territories. Up to the end of 1952, a total sum of $756,057 had been disbursed from Colonial Development and Welfare funds and expended on the construction and running expenses of vegetable collecting centres and depots and the purchase of a land transport fleet.
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