XN000022-1984-07-01 — Page 4

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SUNDAY, JULY 1, 1984

FACILITIES FOR VEGETABLE FARMERS

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LOCAL VEGETABLE GROWERS' HARD-EARNED MONEY IS PROTECTED FROM RACKETEERS - THANKS TO THE VEGETABLE MARKETING ORGANISATION (VMO).

+MARKETING FACILITIES, AVAILABLE AT A VERY LOW COST, ARE PROVIDED FOR FARMERS AND WHOLESALERS TO MAKE A FAIR DEAL WITHOUT BEING MANIPULATED BY RACKETEERS,+ MR T.C. CHAU, SENIOR MANAGER OF THE VEGETABLE MARKETING ORGANISATION, SAID.

THESE FACILITIES INCLUDE COLLECTING DEPOTS IN LAM TEI, KAM TIN AND FANLING FROM WHERE VEGETABLES ARE TRANSPORTED TO BE WEIGHED AND SOLD AT THE CHEUNG SHA WAN WHOLESALE MARKET, MR CHAU SAID.

+THE COST CHARGED IS REASONABLE, A COMMISSION OF 10 PER CENT ON THE SALES, HE SAID.

THE ORGANISATION, A NON-PROFIT MAKING BODY OPERATED UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT (MARKETING) ORDINANCE, AIMS TO MAXIMISE RETURNS TO FARMERS BY MINIMISING MARKETING COSTS AND TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED.

IN THE 1983-84 FINANCIAL YEAR, A TOTAL OF 115 600 TONNES OF VEGETABLES, VALUED AT $317 MILLION, WERE SOLD THROUGH THE ORGANISATION, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 50 PER CENT OVER THE PRECEDING YEAR.

+THIS IS LARGELY DUE TO THE BIGGER SUPPLY FROM THE SHENZHEN ECONOMIC ZONE WHERE HEAVY INVESTMENT IN VEGETABLE CULTIVATION BY HONG KONG FARMERS HAS TREMENDOUSLY BOOSTED PRODUCTION,+ MR CHAU SAID.

WHEN THE ORGANISATION WAS SET UP IN SEPTEMBER 1946, ITS INITIAL AIM WAS TO ASSIST IN THE POST-WAR REHABILITATION OF LOCAL FARMERS AND TO PROVIDE ORDERLY AND EFFICIENT MARKETING FACILITIES AS ONE OF THE MEANS WHEREBY VEGETABLE FARMING COULD BE DEVELOPED AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE FARMING COMMUNITY IMPROVED.

+THIS HAS AGAIN BECOME SIGNIFICANT IN RECENT YEARS WHEN THE TOTAL LAND AREA AVAILABLE FOR VEGETABLE CULTIVATION HAS DECREASED BY HALF, FROM 1976'S 4 400 HECTARES TO 1983'S 2 440 HECTARES. EVERY EFFORT IS BEING MADE BY THE AGRICULTURAL AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT TO HELP FARMERS SOLVE THEIR DIFFICULTIES AND INCREASE THEIR PRODUCTION, HE SAID.

TO PROVIDE FARMERS WITH BETTER MARKETING FACILITIES, THE CHEUNG SHA WAN VEGETABLE WHOLESALE MARKET WAS BUILT IN 1965. AT PRESENT, THE MARKET HANDLES AN AVERAGE OF OVER 300 TONNES OF VEGETABLES A DAY, MR CHAU SAID.

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/+LOCALLY PRODUCID