April 3, 2006

Hong Kong marks out alternatives for its poultry farmers

The Hong Kong government is adopting long-term measures to keep the deadly bird flu out of the territory and planning alternative career measures for its poultry farmers.

Chief among the measures is a poultry slaughtering plant with daily slaughtering capacity of 40,000 chickens to phase out live poultry slaughtering in wet markets. The US$25 million plan is enclosed and comprise three major areas for holding live chickens, slaughtering and distribution.

However, this meant that the livelihoods of some 3,000 poultry retailers or wholesalers would be affected by the changes to Hong Kong's chicken supply. To aid the displaced farmers, US$1.3 million has been marked out to promote organic farming and greenhouse production to help farmers make the transition. Seminars have been held on the organic cultivation of strawberries, golden cap mushrooms and cherry tomatoes for such farmers.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang agreed that organic farming could produce food in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. With a generally favourable outlook for the industry, organic farming presents local farmers with an alternative and provides more choices for consumers, he said.

As for nature reserves, wetlands and urban parks which could be breeding grounds for bird flu due to the presence of wild birds there, the government said it is considering adopting international criteria for park closures during bird flu outbreaks.