ENG-1976 — Page 84

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

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Credit unions operate under a Credit Unions Ordinance, which also provides for the appointment of a Registrar (the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) with powers and duties in regard to the registration of credit unions and their by-laws, the examination of accounts and general supervision. At the end of the year, 53 credit unions with 9,932 members were registered. There were 27 credit unions comprising groups of people having a common bond of association; 20 unions of people having common bonds of employment; and six unions formed by groups each with a common bond of residence.

Land Utilisation

Hong Kong's land area totals 404 square miles. Only 11.6 per cent is used for farming, 76 per cent is marginal land with different degrees of sub-grade character, and built-up areas comprise the remaining 12.4 per cent. The need to establish new towns and residential areas on plans that provide for adequate open space, wider roads and public facilities of all kinds, inevitably means encroachment upon agricul- tural land. The losses, however, are partially offset by more intensive production and by development of marginal land. The New Territories Administration is responsible for land tenure and certain aspects of land development in the New Territories.

Class

Approximate

area

(square miles)

Percentage of whole

Remarks

(i) Built-up (urban areas) (ii) Woodlands

(iii) Grass and scrub lands

(iv) Badlands

}

(v) Swamp and mangrove lands...

(vi) Arable ...

(vii) Fish ponds

•

50

12.4

Includes roads and railways.

48

11.8

Natural and established woodlands.

...

238

58.9

Natural grass and scrub, including

Plover Cove Reservoir.

17

4.1

...

Stripped of cover. Granite country.

Capable of regeneration.

5

1.2

Capable of reclamation.

40

9.9

Includes orchards and market

gardens.

7

1.7

Fresh and brackish water fish

farming.

Agricultural Industry

The government's policy is to foster the growth of the agricultural industry in Hong Kong to make the territory as self-sufficient in foodstuffs as possible, bearing in mind priorities in land utilisation and the economics of food production in the region.

Common crops are vegetables, flowers, rice, fruit and other field crops. The value of crop production has increased considerably from $89 million in 1963 to $296 million in 1976, a rise of 233 per cent. Vegetable production accounts for more than 83 per cent of the total value, having increased from $58 million in 1963 to $246 million in 1976.

Rice is the staple food of the southern Chinese. Two crops of rice a year can be grown on land where water is adequate. The normal yield from an acre of two-crop rice land is about two tons, or up to five tons with high fertiliser use and high yielding