Hong Kong urged to preserve good-quality farmland at Northern Metropolis site

Kadoorie Farm and Liber Research Community urge authorities to establish ‘agricultural priority area’ to help boost local food supply

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Yip Tsz-lam (left) of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden and Chan Kim-ching of Liber Research Community check a site’s viability as farmland. Photo: Elson Li

Published: 8:30am, 1 Aug 2024

Two Hong Kong NGOs have called on authorities to protect about 340 hectares (840 acres) of good-quality farmland in an area that falls under the Northern Metropolis mega project to help foster urban-rural symbiosis and boost the local food supply.

According to a nine-month study from Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, the Liber Research Community and four other green groups, Hong Kong has 187 hectares of active arable land and another 265 hectares of idle farmland.

The paper also found that 75 per cent of the land was good quality, with the two NGOs urging the government to conserve such sites.

Yip Tsz-lam, manager of Kadoorie Farm’s regenerative agriculture department, said: “The study can act as a reference for the government to establish an agricultural priority area.”

Then Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying first floated the idea of designated agricultural priority areas in his 2016 policy address, with the proposal aiming to develop local farming, optimise land use and provide the public with an alternative source of quality local fresh produce.

Yip said the NGOs had assessed the quality of farmland using scientific methods such as checking topsoil depths, noting excellent land should have a depth of at least 20cm.