ENG-1980 — Page 98

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Land Usage

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Hong Kong's land area totals 1,060 square kilometres. Of this, 9.4 per cent is used for farming, 74.9 per cent is marginal land with different degrees of sub-grade character, and built-up areas comprise the remaining 15.7 per cent. The need to establish new towns and expand residential areas in the New Territories has resulted in an encroachment on agricul- tural land. The losses, however, have been partially offset by highly intensive farming. The New Territories Administration is responsible for land tenure and certain aspects of land development in the New Territories.

Approximate

area

Class

(square kilometres) :

Percentage of whole

(i) Built-up (urban areas)

166

(ii) Woodlands

125

11.8

(iii) Grass and scrub lands

624

58.8

=

(iv) Badlands

46

4.3

(v) Swamp and mangrove lands

1

(vi) Arable

81

7.7

(vii) Fish ponds

18

1.7

15.7

—

-

Remarks

Includes roads and railways.

Natural and established woodlands. Natural grass and scrub, including

Plover Cove Reservoir.

Stripped of cover. Granite country.

Capable of regeneration. Capable of reclamation.

Includes orchards and market gardens. Fresh and brackish water fish farming.

Agricultural Industry

The government's policy is to foster the development of the agricultural industry in Hong Kong, bearing in mind priorities in land usage and the economics of food production and supply in the region. Its objective is to ensure that the proportion of Hong Kong's food supply produced locally is maintained at a reasonable level.

Common crops are vegetables, flowers, fruit, rice and other field crops. The value of crop production has increased from $89 million in 1963 to $524 million in 1980

- a rise of 489 per cent. Vegetable production accounts for more than 87 per cent of the total value, having increased from $58 million in 1963 to $456 million in 1980.

The main vegetable crops are white cabbage, flowering cabbage, lettuce, Chinese kale, radishes, watercress, leaf mustard, spring onions and chives. They grow throughout the year, with peak production in the cooler months. Considerable quantities of water spinach, string beans, Chinese spinach, green cucumbers and many species of Chinese gourd are produced in summer. A wide range of exotic temperate vegetables including tomatoes, sweet peppers, cabbage, celery, head lettuce, cauliflower and carrots are grown in winter. Straw mushrooms also are produced, using industrial cotton waste as the growing medium. Among the common types of flowers, gladioli and chrysanthemums grow all the year round; dahlias, roses, asters, snapdragons and carnations are produced in winter; and ginger lilies and lotus flowers in summer. A wide range of ornamental plants - including philodendrons, dieffenbachia, bamboo palms and poinsettia - are produced in commercial nurseries. Peach blossom and ornamental citrus are grown especially for the Lunar New Year. The area of land under vegetables and flowers has increased from 910 hectares in 1954 to 3,180 hectares in 1980.

The amount of land used to cultivate rice has dropped from 9,450 hectares in 1954 to 30 hectares in 1980. Rice production has given way to intensive vegetable production, which gives a far higher return. Much former paddy land around the more remote villages has fallen into disuse and now lies fallow.