106
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
As is the case with the Fish Marketing Organization, it is intended that any financial surpluses should be ploughed back into the industry in the form of improved services and other benefits. An instance of this policy is the aid which the Organiza- tion has given to local farmers in overcoming their main problem of recent years—the lack of cheap fertilizer. The Organization is now operating a scheme for the maturation and distribution of nightsoil to farmers at a low price.
Cheap credit facilities for the improvement and encouragement of agriculture under the control of the Registrar of Co-operatives and Director of Marketing are available from two sources: the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund, and the Vegetable Marketing Organiza- tion Loan Fund. Since the establishment of the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund in July 1954, farmers have received 5,395 loans totalling approximately $4,465,000, while 437 further loans totalling some $1,539,000 have similarly been made from the Vegetable Marketing Organization's Fund.
The main types of vegetables grown locally and imported are shown below together with their average wholesale prices-:
Average Whole- sale price in cents
Piculs Tons
Locally-produced
per catty
White Cabbage...
290,848 17,312
16
Flowering Cabbage
128,880 7,671
25
Leaf Mustard Cabbage
90,302 5,375
16
Chinese Kale
69,320
4,126
21
Chinese Lettuce...
63,266
3,766
13
Imported
Taro
13,641
812
13
Tientsin Cabbage
8,881
529
17
Chinese Melon
7,953
473
11
Round Cabbage..
6,479
386
12
Yam Bean
5,361
319
08
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
The first appointment of a Registrar of Co-operatives was made in May 1950, and the combined Co-operative and Marketing Department came into being in October of the same year. Since