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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
EVERY day in Hong Kong, people consume about 1 010 tonnes of rice, 1 090 tonnes of veget- ables, 9 300 pigs, 460 head of cattle, 300 tonnes of poultry, 460 tonnes of fish and 1 320 tonnes of fruit. Based on these figures, Hong Kong people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, are among the world's highest consumers of protein.
Hong Kong farmers work on a very small agricultural base and only about two per cent of the work force is engaged in primary production - agriculture and fisheries. In terms of quantity, local farmers produce about 33 per cent of fresh vegetables, 37 per cent of live poultry, 16 per cent of live pigs, and 15 per cent of freshwater fish consumed. The fishing fleet of some 4 900 vessels supplies about 80 per cent of all live and fresh marine fish eaten.
Foodstuffs account for about 6.1 per cent of Hong Kong's imports from China. Local production, which complements rather than competes with imports, is aimed at main- taining some degree of self-sufficiency in highly-perishable foodstuffs. The locally-produced foods are generally of a higher quality than the same type of imported foods and thus fetch higher prices in the markets. They help to satisfy the local preference for fresh, rather than frozen or chilled, food.
Agricultural Industry
In Hong Kong, only about eight per cent of the total land area is suitable for crop farming, so agriculture will continue to be directed towards the production of high quality fresh foods through intensive land use.
Common crops are vegetables and flowers although a small quantity of fruit and other high yield crops is also grown. Rice production has given way to intensive vegetable production and has become insignificant. The area of land under vegetables and flowers was about 2 090 hectares in 1990. The value of crop production was about $428 million. Vegetable and flower production accounted for about 69 per cent and 26 per cent of the total value and stood at $294 million and $112 million respectively.
The main vegetable crops are white cabbage, flowering cabbage, lettuce, kale, radish, watercress, leaf mustard, spring onion and chives. They are grown throughout the year, with peak production in the cooler months. Water spinach, string beans, Chinese spinach, green cucumber and many species of Chinese gourd are produced in summer. A wide range of exotic temperate vegetables including tomato, sweet corn, sweet pepper, cabbage, celery, head lettuce, cauliflower and carrot is grown in winter. Straw mushrooms are also pro- duced, using industrial cotton waste as the growing medium.
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