Afcd to host local organic watermelon festival 2024 featuring four highlighted varieties, farmers' market, and workshops for public enjoyment
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will hold the Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024 from June 21. The AFCD introduced four highlighted varieties of organic watermelons this year.
A spokesman for the AFCD said today (June 18), "The annual Local Organic Watermelon Festival promotes local organic watermelons and other premium agricultural products, and strengthens sustainability of local agriculture. It also provides an opportunity for the farmers to share their harvests and interact with members of the public."
Four highlighted varieties of watermelons, namely Huang Yu, seedless 3F-2728, Super Sweet Black Angel 168 and Diana, were introduced under the Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024. The juicy and crisp yellow-fleshed Huang Yu is spherical in shape and green with dark striped skin, with a sweetness of around 10 degrees Brix (degrees of Brix denote the units for measuring sucrose content in a solution). The seedless 3F-2728, which is also spherical in shape and green with dark striped skin, has juicy red flesh and a sweetness of around 10 degrees Brix. The Super Sweet Black Angel 168 is also spherical with dark striped skin in green, and its bright crimson-coloured flesh is juicy with a sweetness of around 12 degrees Brix. Diana, oblong in shape with intense red flesh encased under its bright striped skin in yellow, has a sweetness of around 11 degrees Brix. The sweetness of local organic watermelons is usually between eight and 12 degrees Brix.
The first organic farmers' market of the Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024, which lasts for four days, is co-organised by the AFCD, the Vegetable Marketing Organization, the Federation of Vegetable Marketing Co-operative Societies Ltd and the MTR Corporation Limited. Members of the public can buy local organic agricultural products at 1/F, Maritime Square 1 from 10am to 6pm between June 21 and June 24. Anyone who purchases local organic watermelons on-site will be given an attractive gift. The event will include booth games and workshops for members of the public to enjoy.
Furthermore, the AFCD has continued to invite all regular organic farmers' markets to join the Local Organic Watermelon Festival. Members of the public can purchase local organic watermelons and other seasonal vegetables and fruits at organic farmers' markets in different districts from late June. They can also order from the Vegetable Marketing Organization via the "Local Fresh" website (www.localfreshhk.com) and mobile application, or purchase from certified organic farmers listed on the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre Certification Limited website (www.hkorc-cert.org/en). The opening dates and times of the said farmers' markets can be found in the Annex. Local organic watermelons as well as other seasonal vegetables and fruits are only available for a limited time while stocks last.
For more information about the Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024, please visit the AFCD website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/afcdgovhk).
AFCD holds Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
AFCD holds Local Organic Watermelon Festival 2024 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Hksar government condemns taiwan's false claims on hong kong national security law, asserts law protects human rights and targets only a minority endangering national security.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (June 27) strongly condemned and strongly opposed Taiwan authorities' political manoeuvre with fact-twisting smears and slanders exposing malicious intentions which, under the pretext of raising so-called travel alert status, smeared that the risks of travelling to Hong Kong had increased after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) in Hong Kong.
A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, "It is the constitutional duty of the HKSAR to safeguard national security. In accordance with international law and international practice based on the Charter of the United Nations, safeguarding national security is an inherent right of all sovereign states. Many common law jurisdictions, including western countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Singapore, have enacted multiple pieces of legislation to safeguard national security. Taiwan authorities turned a blind eye to the fact, made exaggerated remarks, maliciously smeared and demonised the NSL and the SNSO, completely unmasking its double standards."
"The legal framework for safeguarding national security in the HKSAR is fully in compliance with the international standard for the protection of human rights. The NSL and the SNSO clearly stipulate that human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security. The rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press and of publication, and the freedoms of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration, enjoyed by Hong Kong people under the Basic Law and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applicable to the HKSAR are protected in accordance with the law.
"The offences endangering national security stipulated by the NSL and the SNSO target acts endangering national security with precision, and define the elements and penalties of the offences with clarity. The HKSAR law enforcement agencies have been taking law enforcement actions based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law in respect of the acts of the persons concerned. The prosecution has the burden to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had the actus reus and mens rea of an offence before the defendant may be convicted by the court. Ordinary travellers (including travellers from China's Taiwan region) will not engage in acts and activities endangering our national security and will not unwittingly violate the law.
"The offences endangering national security only target an extremely small minority of people who endanger national security and the safety of Hong Kong. Safeguarding national security is fundamentally consistent with the respect for and protection of human rights. Safeguarding national security is for better protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of HKSAR residents and other persons in the HKSAR and ensuring the property and investments in the HKSAR are protected by the law," the spokesman reiterated.
"The HKSAR Government strongly urges Taiwan authorities to stop smearing the NSL and the SNSO. The despicable manoeuvre with politics is doomed to fail."
