PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
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decreased by some 70 acres and there was a total loss of some 140 acres of paddy land to other crops, etc. Land under vegetable cultivation however increased by some 290 acres, while land under field crops was more or less the same as the previous year. Most of the remaining increased cultivation was due to orchard and fruit tree cropping.
Against this purely agricultural use of land must be set the demands of a predominantly urban Colony with a rapidly rising population and an economy that is becoming increasingly indus- trial. Urban industry is now Hong Kong's largest employer and industries require land. Wherever possible, factories and urban extensions in country zones are concentrated on land reclaimed from the sea as at Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan-but towns such as Yuen Long, Tai Po and Sha Tin are all expanding, and it is unavoidable that in the process fields in the close vicinity of towns will be lost to agriculture; or at least that agriculture will be restricted in such areas to market gardens. The land policy of the New Territories Administration restricts the process as far as is reasonably possible, but each year's figures of agricultural acreage emphasize the struggle between the demands of town and country.
In view of the pressure of rapid industrial expansion on land requirements, more hillside land is being opened up for agricul- tural purposes. In order to have some idea of the potential agricul- tural value of the land available, most of which is marginal, the Government has made use of the services of experts from the Colonial Pool of Soil Surveyors and the Soil Survey of the Colony is now almost complete.
Indispensable adjuncts to the agricultural development of unused land are improved communications and irrigation. Here Govern- ment has made a considerable contribution with assistance from Colonial Development and Welfare funds (see Appendix I) and from the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association.
A Rural Development Committee was appointed by the Gov- ernor in June 1954, with official and unofficial members under the Chairmanship of the District Commissioner, New Territories, to advise Government on all matters relating to New Territories development and in particular on the extension of agricultural