ENG-1986 — Page 123

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PRIMARY PRODUCTION

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 and guavas. Land under orchards in 1954 totalled 390 hectares, but by 1986, it was 540 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 50 hectares were under rain-fed crops in 1986 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. The value of locally produced pigs killed in 1986 amounted to $326 million.

The production value of poultry, including chickens, ducks, pigeons and quails, amounted to $638 million in 1986. Local chicken production was about 17 million birds, representing 50 per cent of total consumption.

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Friesian cattle are kept by dairies, all 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 are kept under control by vaccination. 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 carried out 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 canine movement into and out of the gazetted rabies- infected area. The gazetted infected area covered the Frontier Closed Area. In addition, So Kwun Po and its vicinity in Sheung Shui was designated in November as a rabies infected area after the confirmation of an indigenous canine rabies case, the first since August 1984. By the end of 1986, 15 100 dogs had been humanely destroyed and another 42 000 licensed and inoculated against rabies.

As a standard practice, all imported dogs and cats, other than those from Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, are subject to six months' quarantine. Any dog that has bitten a person is required to be detained for observation in government kennels for seven days. All cattle and pigs imported for food are quarantined on arrival in Hong Kong. Importation for breeding purposes is also subject to strict control.

Fishing Industry

Marine fish constitute one of Hong Kong's most important primary products. More than 150 fish species of commercial importance frequent the waters of the adjacent continental shelf. Most important of these in terms of landed weight are big-eyes, golden thread, lizardfishes, squids and hair-tails. Total estimated production from the two major sectors – marine capture and culture fisheries – amounted to 211 300 tonnes with a wholesale value of $2,040 million in 1986. These figures represented increases of 7.8 per cent in weight and 12.8 per cent in value compared with 1985. Of the total production, 96 per cent in weight came from marine capture and four per cent from culture fisheries. In terms of wholesale value, 89 per cent came from marine capture and 11 per cent from cultured fisheries.

An estimated 24 000 fishermen work the fleet of some 4 700 vessels, of which over 83 per cent are mechanised. There are four major types of fishing in terms of gear: trawling, lining, gill-netting and purse-seining. Trawling is the most important, accounting for 73 per cent or 148 000 tonnes of marine fish landed in 1986. The total landed catch of live and fresh marine