ENG-1985 — Page 116

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Primary Production

HONG KONG has a very small agricultural base with only about nine per cent of the total land area being suitable for crop farming. Only about two per cent of the labour force is engaged in primary production - agriculture and fisheries - yet its people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, are among the world's highest consumers of protein.

Each day, the people of Hong Kong consume about 1 000 tonnes of rice, 1 500 tonnes of vegetables, 10 000 pigs, 550 head of cattle, 250 tonnes of poultry, 410 tonnes of fish and 1 000 tonnes of fruit. Much of this is imported, but Hong Kong farmers help to satisfy some of the demand. In terms of quantity, local farmers produce about 30 per cent of fresh vegetables, 55 per cent of live poultry, 20 per cent of live pigs, and 14 per cent of freshwater fish, while the fishing fleet of nearly 4 700 vessels supplies about 90 per cent of all fresh marine fish eaten. The locally produced food is generally of a higher quality than the same types of imported foodstuffs and thus fetches higher prices in the markets.

Foodstuffs account for about 16 per cent of Hong Kong's imports from China. Local production, which complements rather than competes with imports, is aimed at main- taining some degree of self-sufficiency with respect to highly perishable foodstuffs. Local produce consists mainly of high-value foods and full advantage is taken of the local consumers' preference for fresh food, as opposed to frozen or chilled food.

Agriculture and Fisheries Department

The Agriculture and Fisheries Department encourages the productive use of agricultural land throughout the rural areas. It assists in the development of agriculture, especially in the form of irrigation projects. New concepts, techniques and material input to the farming and fishing industries are evaluated and actively promoted. Controls are exercised to prevent the introduction and spread of plant and livestock pests and diseases.

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

Fisheries research is conducted on marine resources, aquaculture, hydrography and the environmental impact of development activities on fisheries. In marine resources, emphasis is placed on optimising production from the fisheries resources exploited by the local fishing fleet and investigating the development potential of under-exploited resources.

Aquaculture research is concerned with the development both of more efficient culture systems for fish and molluscs and of improved methods of producing marine fish fry. Hydrographic investigations are designed to supply environmental information for an