XN000022-1983-11-06 — Page 8

SUNDAY, NOVIZIBER 6, 1983

LOCAL FARMERS NOW CATER FOR 32 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S TOTAL VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION. LAST YEAR, 155 DOO TONNES OF DOMESTICALLY GROWN VEGETABLES, VALUED AT $468 MILLION, WERE SOLD IN HONG KONG.

THERE IS ALSO A STRONG DEMAND FOR LOCAL PORK BECAUSE OF ITS GENERALLY HIGHER QUALITY.

EACH YEAR, MORE THAN 750 000 PIGS ARE PRODUCED BY LOCAL FARMERS, ACCOUNTING FOR 20 PER CENT OF TOTAL CONSUMPTION.

ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT'S ESTIMATE, AGRICULTURE PLUS ITS ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES SUPPORT THE LIVELIHOOD OF AT LEAST 250 000 PEOPLE.

APART FROM THE DECLINING FARMING POPULATION, THE AVERAGE AGE OF FARMERS INCREASED FROM 40 IN 1961 TO 45 IN 1971, AND TO 53 AT PRESENT.

+HOWEVER, ABOUT 97 PER CENT OF THE FARMERS SURVEYED EXPRESSED WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE THEIR OCCUPATION.

+WITH MECHANISATION AND MODERNISATION, FARMING IS MUCH MORE PROFITABLE NOWADAYS AND IS NO LONGER A BACKBREAKING JOB AS IT USED TO BE,+ MR TSE SAID.

+ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT'S SURVEY, A FARMING FAMILY OF FIVE ONLY NEEDS TO GROW ONE THIRD OF A HECTARE OF VEGETABLES OR RAISE 250 HEAD OF PIGS OR 6 000 CHICKENS TO EARN A REASONABLY GOOD LIVING, MR TSE ADDED.

BUT ONE MAJOR PROBLEM FACED BY FARMERS IS THE ENCROACHMENT ON AGRICULTURAL LAND BY HOUSING AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.

AS A RESULT, ONLY ABOUT 9.2 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S LAND AREA IS USED FOR FARMING, COMPARED WITH 12.8 PER CENT IN 1971.

TO COMPOUND THE PROBLEM, THERE ARE SOME 4 200 HECTARES OF UNUSED AGRICULTURAL LAND, MAINLY BECAUSE OF LANDOWNERS' ANTICIPATION OF LAND RESUMPTION FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT.

YOU TOO CAN BECOME A TUTOR NURSE

*****

HELEN KWAN, WHO HAS DEVOTED 16 YEARS OF HER WORKING LIFE TOWARDS CARING FOR THE SICK AND THE INJURED, HAS TAKEN A FURTHER STEP IN THIS PROFESSION.

SO HAS TERRY LAI, A MALE NURSE WITH THE SAME LENGTH OF SERVICE AS HELEN'S.

THEY AND EIGHTEEN OTHERS WERE THE FIRST TO GRADUATE AS TUTOR NURSES AFTER TWO YEARS OF FULL-TIME TRAINING AT THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC.

THEIR GRADUATION