PRIMARY PRODUCTION
POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
63
The Agriculture and Fisheries Department concerns itself with optimum land utilization and provides technical, extension and advisory services to farmers. It also deals with the fishermen on the waters of the territory and the administrative organization of co- operative societies of all types. The conservation of water and soil, through afforestation of bare, eroded hillsides and catchment areas, is important. Afforestation is largely undertaken by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and private afforestation is still relatively unimportant. The New Territories Administration is responsible for land tenure and certain aspects of land development in the New Territories.
In seeking to increase production and improve the economic status of individual farmers, the Agriculture and Fisheries Depart- ment encourages diversified production to mitigate the effects of seasonal market 'gluts' and trade recessions. Loans are available to farmers through the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund, started in 1955 by the government and two Hong Kong businessmen, Messrs Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie. The fund is administered by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, whose Director is the trustee and chairman of the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Committee. Loans are also available for farmers through the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund and through the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. The Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Associa- tion, a philanthropic organization also founded by the Kadoorie brothers, makes 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 not a government-sponsored organization, it works closely with the Agriculture and Fisheries Department which offers technical assistance and advice to it and similar organizations concerned with the rural community.
The major event of the year was the Colony Agricultural Show, the first since 1961, which was held at Sek Kong in the New Territories from 11th-17th December 1965. Over 200,000 people from all corners of the New Territories and from the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon attended the show. Competitive exhibits included all types of local agricultural products, livestock