Portal:Hong Kong/Selected article/2007/April

Agriculture and aquaculture in Hong Kong is a sunset industry. Most agricultural produce is directly imported from the neighbouring mainland China. Geographically Hong Kong consists largely of steep, unproductive hillside. Only 64 square kilometres of land are actively farmed. Farms are generally small in size and they produce mainly leafy vegetables, pigs or poultry. The policy of Hong Kong Government changed from helping to discouraging during the transition to tertiary industry. Strengthening of health and environmental rules suffocates the small business of poultry and pigs.

In round figures, the daily fresh food consumption by Hong Kong’s population of more than six million is 890 tonnes of rice, 1,700 tonnes of vegetables, 5,910 head of pigs, 120 head of cattle and 170 tonnes of poultry. Much of this is imported, but Hong Kong’s primary producers help to satisfy some of the demand.

The gross value of local agricultural production totalled $1,052 million in 2003. Five per cent of the vegetables Hong Kong people consumed, together with 31 % of the live poultry and 23 % of the live pigs, come from local farms. Local production is geared to complement rather than compete with other major market suppliers. Production efforts are aimed mainly at high-value fresh foods.