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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
to achieve its aims without impairing soil fertility, and the conser- vation of soil and water, through afforestation of bare, eroded hillsides and catchment areas, plays an important part. Afforesta- tion is largely undertaken directly by Government, and private afforestation is still relatively unimportant.
Loans are available to farmers through the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund, started in 1955 by Government and Messrs Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie. The fund is administered by the Agriculture and Forestry Department, whose director is the chair- man and trustee. Loans are also available through the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund and through the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. The Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association, a philan- thropic organization also founded by the Kadoorie brothers, gives free grants to members of the farming community who cannot find enough capital on their own. The general policy of the association is to help those who are prepared to help themselves, and although it is not a Government sponsored organization it co-operates closely with Government through the Agriculture and Forestry Depart- ment which offers technical assistance and advice. Similar advice and assistance is also given to all welfare organizations concerned with the rural community, and especially to those engaged in the rehabilitation of immigrants as farmers.
In the field of rural education greater emphasis is being placed on lectures followed by informal discussion rather than on formal training courses. During the year some 2,000 farmers attended such lectures given by professional and technical experts from the Agriculture and Forestry Department. A restricted programme of formal training courses was also carried out and more than 50 farmers and farmers' sons received vocational training in a wide variety of subjects. More than 70 progressive farmers were selected to attend organized farm visits to Government experimental stations and farming projects.
Within the last decade there has been a marked change in the farming pattern in Hong Kong. Formerly paddy cultivation was the most important aspect of agriculture in the New Territories. With the increased demand for food such as vegetables, fruit, eggs and poultry meat, and with industrial expansion and immigrant farmers exerting pressure on the land, there has been a steady move toward market gardening and pig and poultry production.