XN000022-1978-02-24 — Page 5

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1978

LOANS TO FARMERS REACH $100 MILLION

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GOVERNMENT-ADMINISTERED LOANS TO HONG KONG FARMERS TODAY REACHED THE $100 MILLION MARK AND ONE LUCKY PIG BREEDER HAS WON A TRIP TO THE UNITED KINGDOM WHEN HIS APPLICATION FOR A LOAN CAME CLOSEST TO THE HUNDRED MILLION MARK.

THE PIG BREEDER IS MR. NG SHU-WING, 35, OF PAT HEUNG, AND WHEN HE APPROACHED THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT FOR A LOAN TO BUY PIG FEED, HE WAS TOLD THAT THE SUM HE ASKED FOR, IF APPROVED, WOULD BRING TO $100 MILLION THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF LOANS ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT DURING THE PAST 23 YEARS.

MR. NG STARTED PIG RAISING IN LUI KUNG TIN IN 1970 AND NOW

HAS 100 PIGS - A MIXTURE OF BREEDERS AND PORKERS.

THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES, MR. TED NICHOLS IN PRESENTING THE LOAN TO MR. NG TODAY SAID THAT THE LOAN FUNDS HAD SNOWBALLED IN TERMS OF LENDING CAPACITY.

IN THE FIRST 10 YEARS, $25 MILLION HAD BEEN LENT AT THE END OF THE SECOND TEN YEARS SOME $76 MILLION AND NOW, WITHIN A FURTHER THREE YEARS, WE HAVE CROSSED THE $100 MILLION MARK.+

+THIS IS AN ACHIEVEMENT IN ITSELF, BUT IT IS IN MANY WAYS ALL THE MORE AMAZING WHEN ONE ADDITIONALLY RECORDS THE FACT THAT BAD DEBTS TO THE LOAN FUNDS STAND AT WHAT IS PROBABLY A WORLD RECORD LOW BETWEEN 0.2 AND 0.3 PER CENT, MR. NICHOLS SAID.

COMMENTING ON THE PRODUCTION OF LOCAL FARM PRODUCE, MR. NICHOLS SAID MORE THAN 60 PER CENT OF ALL CHICKEN AND 50 PER CENT OF ALL VEGETABLES CONSUMED IN HONG KONG WERE HOME GROWN.

HOWEVER, HE ADDED THAT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE PROTEIN CONSUMPTION IN HONG KONG WAS AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.

ON A PER CAPITA BASIS THE CONSUMPTION OF PROTEIN IN HONG KONG WAS AHEAD OF THE U.K. (88 GRAMS PER DAY), ON PAR WITH THE U.S.A. AND AUSTRALIA (101 GRAMS A DAY) AND SURPASSED ONLY BY NEW ZEALAND AT 107 GRAMS PER DAY,

+WHEN ONE ANALYSES THIS SITUATION, WE CAN BE PROUD OF THE PART PLAYED BY THE LOAN FUNDS IN MAKING FINANCIALLY POSSIBLE ALL THE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION INTRODUCED BY MY DEPARTMENT AND WHICH OUR PRESENT LEVEL OF FARMING STANDARDS DEMAND, SAID MR. NICHOLS.

PR. NG'S TRIP TO THE U.X. IS SPONSORED BY SIR LAWRENCE KADOORIE, CHAIRMAN OF THE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION.

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