PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
105
nominated by the Governor, who have wide and practical experi- ence of the difficulties and needs of farmers. It is the Government's declared policy that the Organization should one day be run by the farmers themselves as a co-operative enterprise.
The Organization undertakes two main functions. First, it collects vegetables from depots and posts conveniently located throughout the New Territories and transports them to the whole- sale vegetable market in Yau Ma Tei. Second, it arranges the sale of this produce and manages all the attendant financial transactions.
In these respects the Organization is very similar to its Fish Marketing counterpart. Important differences, however, lie in the method of sale which in the case of the Vegetable Marketing Organization is by negotiation and not by auction, and in the degree of practical assistance provided by Co-operative Marketing Societies which are responsible for handling approximately 66% of the total local production of vegetables. The reasons for negotiated sales, as opposed to an auction system, are not difficult to find on an average, approximately 12,000 separate lots are sold daily to some 2,500 buyers. The number of lots rises to over 20,000 a day in the main season, making sales by auction im- practicable.
The Organization is self-supporting and the costs of the various services are met from a 10% commission charged on sales. Of this commission 30% is refunded to co-operative marketing societies in respect of the vegetables for which they are responsible.
The weights and values of vegetables marketed through the Organization over the last five years are as follows:
Locally-produced
Piculs
Tons
Value ($)
1,019,692 60,696
18,259,193
1,117,629 66,526
19,939,762
1,293,354 76,985
21,589,103
1954
1955
•
1956
1957
...
1,193,662 71,051 21,719,517
1958
1,387,797
82,607 26,562,534
Imported
1954
193,479
11,517
4,266,494
1955
105,656
6,289
2,164,460
1956
122,363
7,284
1,685,920
1957
134,098
7,982
1,925,268
1958
118,374
7,046
1,584,748