ENG-1964 — Page 86

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

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The organization has established depots in the main vegetable cultivation areas of the New Territories. From these depots the majority of which are now operated by vegetable marketing co- operative societies, vegetables are collected daily by the organiza- tion's transport fleet taken to a central wholesale market in Kowloon where two sales are held every day. The sales are conducted by the organization. Reprovisioning of the Kowloon wholesale vegetable market on a larger, reclaimed site in Cheung Sha Wan has now started. Like the adjoining wholesale fish market, this will be financed jointly by the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund and the marketing organization.

The organization is a non-profit-making concern and finds its revenue from a 10 per cent commission on the sales in the Kowloon Wholesale Vegetable Market. Vegetables are sold in the market by the organization but with considerable practical assistance given by the vegetable marketing co-operative societies which now handle 76 per cent of local production. Thirty per cent of this commission is therefore refunded to the marketing co-operative societies in recognition of the marketing responsibilities they assume in respect of their own produce. Sales are by negotiation rather than auction since on a normal day some 20,000 separate lots may be sold to nearly 3,000 buyers. The number of lots rises to nearly 30,000 a day in the main season, making sales by auction im- practicable.

With production during the year affected by typhoons there was an increase of 18 per cent in the average annual wholesale price, while the quantity marketed decreased by 20 per cent. A quantity of imported vegetables also passed through the market.

Cheap credit is an important service of the organization. Farmers may obtain loans, through the Director of Marketing, from the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. Since the estab- lishment of this fund farmers have received 12,532 loans totalling $4,277,752. It is Government's declared policy that the organiza- tion should one day be run by the farmers themselves as a co- operative enterprise. As a move toward this end the salesmen of individual vegetable marketing co-operative societies have been authorized under the Agricultural Products (Marketing) Ordinance as market salesmen.