ENG-2011 — Page 241

Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries | 201

Agricultural Industry

Hong Kong's agricultural industry focuses mainly on producing quality fresh food crops through intensive land use. Farming is done mostly in the New Territories, but only 2 per cent of New Territories land is being used for growing crops, comprising mainly vegetables and cut flowers. Their combined output in 2011 was valued at about $228 million. Pigs and poultry are the principal food animals reared. In 2011, locally reared pigs earned about $285 million, while poultry, including chickens and chicken eggs, earned about $228 million.

To stay in business, Hong Kong's agricultural industry has to adapt to fast changing market trends as it is constrained by the limited supply of farm land and labour, competition from imports, high cost of maintaining environmental standards. and calls for improved farm hygiene and safe produce.

The AFCD encourages crop farmers to tap niche markets and to sharpen their competitiveness by cultivating safe and good quality vegetables. The department works with local organic farming groups and the Vegetable Marketing Organisation to promote organic farming and to develop a market for organic vegetables. The department provides an organic farming support service to 182 farms located on about 69 hectares of land. The AFCD also promotes the use of greenhouse technology for intensive high-value crop production.

During the year, five improved varieties of vegetable and fruit: mini wax gourd, yellow rind/red flesh watermelon, yellow cucumber, Chinese cabbage and sweet potato, were introduced to farmers for cultivation in Hong Kong. The voluntary Accredited Farm Scheme managed by the AFCD and the Vegetable Marketing Organisation have been providing a stable supply of high quality and safe vegetables since 1994. Apart from Guangdong, the scheme was extended to the Ningxia Autonomous Region in 2011. A total of 296 farms, spread over 2 760 hectares of land, have been accredited under the scheme so far.

Leisure farms have become popular places for recreation in recent years. In collaboration with the local agricultural sector, AFCD published a book entitled Guide to Hong Kong Leisure Farms 2011 and created a website (http://fedvmcs.org/ farm_index.php) to help visitors explore a variety of leisure farms in Hong Kong.

Fisheries Industry

Fresh fish is one of Hong Kong's most important primary products. In 2011, fish caught and fish reared in ponds and floating cages at sea amounted to about 174 000 tonnes. Their combined value was $2.51 billion.

Hong Kong's fishing fleet consists of some 4 030 vessels, manned by about 8 500 local fishermen and some 4 800 Mainland deckhands. The predominant fishing method is trawling, which accounted for 82 per cent of fish caught, weighing about 140 000 tonnes. Other methods include lining, gill netting and purse-seining. The total catch in 2011 weighed 171 000 tonnes and had an estimated wholesale value of $2.36 billion. The industry provided some 46 000 tonnes of fish for local consumption during the year.