ENG-1982 — Page 101

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PRIMARY PRODUCTION

of 472 per cent. Vegetable production accounts for more than 89 per cent of the total value, having increased from $58 million in 1963 to $375 million in 1982.

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. 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 are also 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 increased from 910 hectares in 1954 to 4 970 hectares in 1976 but has since declined gradually to 2 950 hectares in 1982 mainly as a result of the development of new towns in the New Territories.

The amount of land used to cultivate rice has dropped from 9 450 hectares in 1954 to less than 10 hectares in 1982. Rice production has given way to intensive vegetable pro- duction, which gives a far higher return. Much former paddy land around the more remote villages has fallen into disuse and now lies fallow.

Various types of fruit are grown in Hong Kong. The principal crops are longan, lychees, wampei, tangerines, local lemons, bananas, guavas and pineapples. Land under orchards in 1954 totalled 390 hectares; by 1982 it was 700 hectares.

Other field crops such as sweet potatoes, taro, yams and sugar cane are cultivated on a small scale in the remote and drier areas where water and transport facilities are inadequate for growing vegetables. Some 70 hectares were under rain-fed crops in 1982, compared with 1 410 hectares in 1954.

Because 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 as pure strains of the Chinese type are difficult to find. The value of locally-produced pigs killed in 1982 amounted to $223 million.

With an annual production value of $675 million, the poultry industry - including ducks, pigeons and quail - continues to develop. Many farmers have adopted advanced methods of management, successfully adapting them to local conditions. During 1982, local chicken production increased by 15 per cent to about 20 million birds, representing 61 per cent of total consumption. The value of hen eggs produced amounted to $40 million for the year.

Friesian cattle are kept by dairies, most of which are in the New Territories. Sporadic outbreaks of a mild type of foot-and-mouth disease (Type O) and swine fever still occur, but they are kept under control by vaccination. In March there was an outbreak of anthrax resulting in the death of three cows on a dairy farm on Hong Kong Island. Newcastle Disease in poultry is controlled by the use of Ranikhet and intranasal-drop vaccines. Investigations to establish the incidence of intercurrent disease in both pigs and poultry are undertaken at the government's veterinary laboratory.

Stringent rabies control measures remained in force throughout the year. These include extensive immunisation of dogs and cats against rabies, intensive catching and elimination of stray dogs, and restriction of dog movement into and out of the gazetted rabies-infected area. The rabies-infected area was reduced in size in April to cover only the frontier closed