ENG-1953 — Page 74

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953

In the New

the Island and on the fringe of New Kowloon. Territories, there is a considerable area of paddy fields, culti- vated largely by tenant farmers, but there is a constant trend towards the encroachment of industrial and other development on this agricultural land.

Land Utilization

Almost 16% of Hong Kong's 391 square miles of territory has been developed for agriculture and livestock raising, and cropping is being extended by terracing the gentle slopes of valleys and the lower shoulders of steeper hills. Cultivation can be further extended on the island of Lantau and elsewhere, by terracing, where water can be made available for irrigation. By improving irrigation, large areas of downlands can be made to support a second crop of rice and by drainage and the exclusion of sea water, low yielding salt water paddy varieties can be replaced by high yielding fresh water varieties and vegetables.

The limit of agricultural development will not be known with certainty until the land utilization survey is completed. The countryside consists mainly of mountains and hills, the more gradual slopes of which are covered with grass, ferns and sparse pinewood, and the rocky ravines with evergreen trees and dense thorny scrub. Forest surveys and the experience gained over a number of years on afforestation by the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, make it evident that large areas of the Colony can be satisfactorily planted up to forests. As pointed out in the forestry section, major developments in afforestation have been planned and will constitute the major form of land utilization.

There are very few farm holdings in excess of 5 acres which are owner operated. Most of the agricultural land is intensively cultivated by thousands of small holders on 1 to 5 mows (1 acre 4.8 mows) for vegetables, and from 5 to 15 mows

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