HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
Dairying. There is one large dairy farm and several smaller ones which keep imported dairy cattle for fresh milk production. The breeds are mainly Holstein, Ayrshire, Guern- sey and Jersey and the animals are stall fed and rarely leave their byres. Production is maintained by the feeding of im- ported food and concentrates supplemented by locally grown guinea grass. All animals are tested for freedom from tuber- culosis and are inoculated against other bovine diseases.
Pigs. Pork is an important item in the Chinese diet and a large percentage of local requirements is met by importation. Farmers purchase weaners and rear them to porker weights but since 1947, there has been a steady and important increase in pig breeding by both farmers and specialist breeders. About 12% of the pork requirements is now produced in the Colony and despite many difficulties this can be greatly increased. Improvements in animal husbandry, particularly breeding and feeding, disease control, the provision of boar centres and or- ganized extension work among farmers have assisted these developments.
Minor Livestock Products. Large numbers of eggs are produced in the Colony by farmers and poultry breeders from both local and imported breeds of poultry, and there is a large demand for poultry meat which is being increasingly met. There is a large overseas demand for dried and smoked ducks and preserved eggs, and an extension of duck raising in the New Territories to meet this demand was an important development in 1953.
The meat consumed in the Colony is mainly imported. Beef, especially, is expensive and is in any case not a traditional item of the ordinary man's diet. Pig and poultry farmers have been affected by a rise in price of feeding stuffs during the past year but, in spite of this, pig farming remains an important industry in the Colony.
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