ENG-1973 — Page 94

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PRIMARY PRODUCTION

The main vegetable crops are white cabbage, flowering cabbage, lettuce, Chinese kale, radish, water-cress, leaf mustard, spring onion and chive which grow all the year round with the peak production period in the cooler months. Considerable quantities of water spinach, string bean, Chinese spinach, green cucumber and many other species of Chinese gourds are produced in summer and a wide range of exotic temperate vegetables including tomato, sweet pepper, cabbage, celery, head lettuce, cauliflower and carrot are grown in winter. The common types of flowers are gladiolus and chrysanthemum which grow all the year round; dahlia, rose, aster, snapdragon and carnation are grown in winter, and ginger lily and lotus flower in summer. Peach blossom and ornamental citrus are grown especially for the Lunar New Year. The area of land under vegetables and flowers has increased from 2,250 acres in 1954 to 10,950 acres in 1973.

A wide range of fruit is grown on the lower hill slopes. The principal crops are longan, lychee, wampei, tangerine, local lemon, banana, papaya and pineapple. Land under orchards in 1954 was 952 acres. By 1973, it was 1,590 acres.

Other field crops such as sweet potato, taro, yam, soy bean and sugarcane are cultivated in the remote and drier areas where water and transport facilities are inadequate to grow vegetables or rice. The acreage under rainfed crops was 1,300 acres in 1973, compared with 3,450 acres in 1954.

As there is insufficient land for extensive grazing, pigs and poultry are the principal animals reared for food. Pigs in Hong Kong are mostly crosses of local animals with exotic stock, and pure strains of the Chinese type are becoming difficult to find. Although locally produced pigs represent only 12 per cent of total pigs killed, their value is $65.9 million per annum, and proposals to stimulate and expand production are being implemented.

With an annual production value of $179 million, the poultry industry (including pigeons and quail) is continuing to develop on a more sophisticated basis. Farmers are adopting advanced methods of management and successfully adapting them to local conditions, taking the process through from locally bred chicks to table birds, using both local breeds and imported hybrids. Duck-rearing is also important and steps are being taken to expand this industry.

While local cattle and buffaloes are kept mainly for work, imported Friesians are kept by dairies, of which the largest is on Hong Kong Island and the others in smaller groups outside Kowloon and in the New Territories. Regular tuberculin testing is carried out on all dairy animals.

Sporadic outbreaks of a mild type of foot-and-mouth disease (type O) and swine fever still occur, but these have been kept under control by vaccination. Newcastle disease in poultry has been controlled by the use of the Ranikhet and intra-nasal- drop vaccines. The lapinised rinderpest vaccine formerly used was replaced in 1970 by a tissue-culture vaccine which gives a prolonged immunity against the rinderpest disease in cattle. Investigations to establish the incidence of intercurrent disease in both pigs and poultry are undertaken at the veterinary laboratory.