PRIMARY PRODUCTION
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agricultural subjects. More than 153,820 visits were made to farmers and co-operative societies by both professional and technical officers on various agricultural purposes. Farmers also visited government experimental farms and farming projects.
Close contact with the fishing community is maintained through an extension service, similar in scope to that provided for the agricultural industry, and by liaison with fishermen's co-operative societies. A number of these societies operate their own revolving loan fund schemes which continue to grow in size and effectiveness.
Loans are available to the agricultural industry through four separate loan funds -the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund, the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund, the World Refugee Year Loan Fund and the Vegetable Marketing Organisation Loan Fund- all administered through the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. At December 31, 1974, the total loans issued since the inception of these four funds was $81,150,415. The total recovered was $75,973,099.
The Fisheries Development Loan Fund, with a capital of $5 million, is administer- ed by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries specifically for the development of the fishing fleet. Finance from the World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co-operative Societies, donated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1962, is also available to members of fishermen's co-operative societies. The Fish Marketing Organisation Loan Fund is another important source of loan finance for fishermen. This fund, with a ceiling of $6 million, was established in 1946 and has made loans totalling $48.6 million; of this amount, some $43.2 million had been repaid by the end of the year. The organisation also administers a revolving loan fund of $116,000 financed by the Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), specifically for shrimp fishermen.
Co-operative societies operate under a Co-operative Societies Ordinance, which provides for the appointment of a Registrar (the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) whose staff supervise and assist co-operative societies and encourage the formation of new ones. On December 31, 1974, more than 11,700 farmers and 2,281 fishermen were members of 88 rural societies with two federations among the farming com- munity, and 77 societies with four federations supported by the fisherfolk. A further 252 societies with about 8,345 members operate in the urban area, the bulk of these being co-operative building societies formed by local civil servants with financial aid from the government. The movement includes primary societies with such diverse objects and activities as vegetable marketing, pig raising, agriculture and fisheries credit, better living, thrift and loan, housing and the supply of consumer goods.
In recognition of the needs of lower income groups for thrift and small loans, legislation in the form of the Credit Unions Ordinance was enacted in February 1970 to incorporate and regulate credit unions and to provide for incidental matters. The ordinance provides for the appointment of a Registrar (the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) with powers and duties in regard to the registration of credit unions and their by-laws, the examination of accounts and general supervision. Up to the end of the year, 51 credit unions with 8,713 members were registered; a total of 27 credit unions were formed of groups of persons having a common bond of association;