Overview of the Agricultural Park
One of the original functions of the agricultural park was to resettle farmers in the northeast of the New Territories, including farmers in Fanling, Sheung Shui and Kwu Tung areas. The Agricultural Park will be located in Kwu Tung South, New Territories, providing approximately 80 hectares of farmland. It will be developed in two phases, starting with a smaller scale to open up part of the area for farmers to use as soon as possible, and serving as a pilot project to accumulate experience to help advance and optimise the design and development of the entire Agricultural Park.
In addition, the government established agricultural parks in the hope of helping to improve the overall productivity of Hong Kong's agriculture.
The Agricultural Park is one of the main measures of the New Agricultural Policy. It helps to cultivate agricultural technology and knowledge in managing modern farms and encourages agricultural modernization. In addition to preserving the current land in the district for agricultural use as much as possible, the Agricultural Park will also reclaim about 50 hectares of currently fallow farmland. The farmland in the park is roughly divided into traditional farming, modern farming methods and organic farming according to the terrain, agricultural operation requirements, etc. The agricultural park has modern farming equipment to help farmers improve their productivity, and has supporting facilities to facilitate farmers to take care of their farmland, and the rent is also affordable.
Agricultural park under question
The government's development of this agricultural park has been subject to many doubts. For example, the original Jiaojing was the most active and productive agricultural area in the New Territories in the 1950s. To develop it into a mature agricultural production area requires the efforts of more than one generation. In addition to hard work, it also depends on the local natural and man-made agricultural resources. In addition, the agricultural park failed to take into account the natural resources and cultural history of Jiaojing in its planning, which disrupted the operation of Hong Kong's integrated agricultural farming and living. It will inevitably lead to a sharp increase in farmers' production costs and the relocation of a large number of original farmlands and farmers. It has long been criticized for being contrary to Hong Kong's original agricultural ecology.
Jiaojing has the most unique geographical environment. The agricultural area is full of country roads that extend in all directions. There is always flowing water beside the roads. The water flows into a field, turns around a few bays and flows into another field. Wherever you go, there are reflections in the water. Because there are the Dadaojian Mountains to the south of Jiaojing and the Jigongling Mountains to the west, an endless supply of mountain water flows through Jiaojing, then turns into the Shuangyu River and enters the Longyuan Wetland. Mountain water flows down from the farmland on the mountainside to the fields along the terrain. Farmers spontaneously maintain the mountain water irrigation system. For decades, the mountain water has nourished every inch of land in Banana Valley and fed the entire agricultural area.
The first phase of the agricultural park
The first phase began operation at the end of 2022. The Hong Kong government touts different types of agricultural operations in the agricultural park, including traditional farming, organic farming and modern farming models, and has spent HK$770 million to build the agricultural park. The first phase of the agricultural park will be opened in phases at the end of 2022, providing 6 hectares of farmland and 4.8 hectares of infrastructure, including roads, irrigation, basic accommodation and agricultural storage facilities. The government expects to produce 340 tonnes of vegetables per year after the first phase of the project is completed.
