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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
95
Six to eight crops of vegetables are harvested annually from intensively cultivated land. The main crops are white cabbage, flowering cabbage, turnip, leaf mustard, Chinese kale, Chinese lettuce, tomato, water spinach, string bean, watercress and cucumber. Cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce and tomato are produced in great quantity during the cooler months and quality is excellent. This intensive production of vegetables takes place on both fertile and comparatively infertile land and is made possible by heavy dressings of manure. Nightsoil is used on about three-quarters of the area and, in its place or as a supplement, pig and poultry manure, peanut cake, duck feathers, bone meal and compost are also applied. The use of artificial fertilizers is increasing, usually in addition to organic manures. Plant diseases are less important than insect pests and insecticides are very popular. The Agriculture and Forestry Department devotes increasing attention to seed selection of local vegetables, as well as trials with winter_vege- tables grown from imported seed.
Sweet potatoes are grown both for human consumption (the tubers), and for pigfeed (the vines). Some 1,834 acres are planted on drier lands as a main crop, chiefly for tubers, and a catch crop is also grown on 4,600 acres following the second paddy harvest. With an average yield of six tons an acre, and an average market price of $20 per picul, this represents an annual value of $12,762,000.
About 2,713 acres are cultivated in many small plots for other field crops such as peanut, taro, radish, yam and sugarcane. These are grown mainly for local rural consumption.
Fruit production is not yet substantial, but it is expanding, and includes wampei (wong pei), lemon, lungngan, orange, tangerine, Japanese apricot, guava, papaya, lychee and pineapple. Accurate statistics are not available, but approximately 50,000 piculs of assorted fruits, valued at over $4,000,000, were harvested during the year.
Crops and Fruits for Export. A narrow range of fruits and crops is prepared for export to Chinese living overseas, mainly in the United States. Although the quantities exported are small, they make a useful source of earning for the small farmer. Products include water chestnut, Japanese apricot, lemon, taro, bitter cucumber, white cabbage, ginger, radish, lychee, wong pei,
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