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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1985
UP TO 15 TONNES OF RAW WASTE WERE PRODUCED DAILY BY ABOUT 8 000 PIGS AND 273 000 CHICKENS ON THESE FARMS, HE SAID. AND THE MANURE COMPOST PRODUCED AT THE PLANT HAD PROVED USEFUL AS A HIGH-QUALITY SOIL CONDITIONER FOR MARKET GARDENING, TREE PLANTING AND FOR LANDSCAPING PURPOSES.
MORE THAN 60 PER CENT OF THE FARMERS WHO USED THE MANURE COMPOST HAD REPORTED THAT THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF HARVESTED CROPS, DR LAU SAID.
+RESULTS OF SOIL TESTS FURTHER SHOWED THAT THE COMPOST SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED SOIL ACIDITY AND INCREASED SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, TOTAL NITROGEN AND EXCHANGEABLE POTASSIUM, + HE SAID.
IN ADDITION, NO SPECIAL CROP PEST OR DISEASE PROBLEMS HAD BEEN FOUND WITH THE APPLICATION OF MANURE COMPOST TO A FIELD.
DR LAU SAID THE PILOT PLANT HAD DEMONSTRATED THAT A SIMPLE AND RAPID COMPOSTING OPERATION COULD CONVERT RAW ANIMAL MANURE INTO STABILISED COMPOST IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS WITHOUT THE NEED OF THERMAL DRYING OR THE ADDITION OF FOREIGN BLENDING MATERIAL.
+ THE FINISHED PRODUCT IS OF A CONSISTENTLY HIGH QUALITY, RELATIVELY RICH IN NITROGEN, POTASSIUM AND PHOSPHORUS. THE HEAVY METAL CONTENT IS LOW AND WELL WITHIN THE RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS FOR USE AS A SOIL CONDITIONER, HE SAID.
UNLIKE COMPOST DERIVED FROM MUNICIPAL REFUSE AND SEWAGE SLUDGE, MANURE COMPOST IS FREE OF BROKEN GLASS, PLASTIC CONTAINERS AND OTHER EXTRANEOUS MATERIALS,
+TAKING ACCOUNT OF ITS VERY ATTRACTIVE COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND THE MARKET POTENTIALS FOR THE FINISHED PRODUCT. IT IS CONSIDERED THAT COMPOSTING PROVIDES A PRACTICAL OPTION FOR UTILISATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMAL WASTE IN HONG KONG,+ HE SAID.
PRESSURE KEPT UP ON PESTS
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AS PART OF ITS CONTINUING EFFORTS TO PREVENT MOSQUITO BREEDING, THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT'S DISTRICT PEST CONTROL STAFF INSPECTED MORE THAN 121 680 HOUSES AND
15 280 BUILDING SITES AND OPEN SPACES DURING THE FOUR-MONTH PERIOD ENDED JULY THIS YEAR.
AS A RESULT, 3 305 BREEDING PLACES WERE FOUND AND ACTION TAKEN TO ERADICATE THESE SOURCES, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID.
/DURING THE