ENG-1982 — Page 98

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

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landscape repair - as well as fire-fighting - and the development of recreational services in country parks.

Consumer demand and local primary production, within the context of world food production and supply, are monitored to enable appropriate development planning. Statistical data on production factors and food supplies, including imports, are collected and analysed to help formulate local production and marketing policies. The business efficiency of different sectors within the primary industries is studied to establish and update productivity standards and to identify areas for improvement. Forward projection studies of the market demand for foods are prepared and the projections are then related to local primary production capacity, both actual and potential.

Research programmes of the department cover crops, pest control, animal husbandry and fisheries. Experiments are conducted on government farms to improve the quality and yield for each hectare of vegetables, flowers and fruit. The department advises livestock farmers on modern methods of animal production, supplies improved and exotic breeding stocks of pigs and poultry, and provides an artificial insemination service for pigs.

For fisheries, research is conducted into marine resources, aquaculture, hydrography and the effects of marine pollution. In marine resources research, emphasis is placed on investigating new fish stocks for commercial exploitation within the range of the Hong Kong fleet and on monitoring the performance of existing capture fisheries. The fisheries research vessel Tai Shun, a 565 GRT combination trawler and purse-seiner, was employed to conduct acoustic quantitative evaluation surveys of midwater resources in the northern part of the South China Sea, and related fisheries hydrographic research. She will also be used in exploratory fishing on the edge of the northern continental shelf.

Aquaculture research is concerned with the development of more efficient culture systems and methods of producing the fry of marine fish; hydrographic investigations are designed to supply environmental information for an assortment of biological programmes; and marine pollution research is aimed at assessing the impact of pollution on fisheries, particularly mariculture. A new 21-metre marine pollution vessel is being designed by the Marine Department for construction in 1983. The vessel will be used jointly by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the Environmental Protection Agency for pollution research in the territorial waters of Hong Kong.

Development Farming and Fishing

Owing to the shortage of farm labour in Hong Kong and its rising cost, the main development in the agricultural industry in recent years has been the introduction of labour-saving devices. Farmers use pre-emergence herbicides for weed control in market garden crops and there is widespread use of small farm machines and sprinkler irrigation. At the end of 1982, there were 3 800 rotary cultivators and 2 150 sprinkler units in use on vegetable farms.

The plastic net house, designed to aid vegetable growing in adverse weather, is the subject of an active development programme by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. The net houses, which are particularly suitable for leafy green vegetables, protect crops from bad weather, insects and birds. Technical assistance, agricultural loans and related services have been made available to farmers to promote the installation of plastic net houses for better farming results.

Straw mushroom cultivation has gained considerable popularity in recent years and at the end of 1982 there were 60 mushroom farms. The locally-produced mushroom has about a. 30 per cent share of the local market.