How to become a field crop and vegetable grower

Official title: Field crop and vegetable growers

Also called: Cereal farmer, Cotton farmer, Potato farmer, Rice farmer, Skilled farm worker (field crops), Sugar-cane grower

Field crop and vegetable growers plan, organize and perform farming operations to grow and harvest various types of field crop such as wheat and other cereals, rice, beetroot, sugar-cane, groundnuts, tobacco, reed or other field crops, and potatoes, cabbages or other field vegetables, for sale or delivery on a regular basis to wholesale buyers, marketing organizations or at markets.

Main tasks

• Monitoring market activity and conditions, determining types and quantities of crops to be grown, and planning and coordinating production accordingly
• Preparing soil by hand or machine, and spreading fertilizers and manure
• Selecting and sowing seeds, and planting seedlings
• Maintaining crops by cultivating soil, by transplanting, pruning or thinning plants, and by setting up and operating irrigation equipment
• Controlling weeds, pests and diseases by applying herbicides and pesticides
• Harvesting crops and destroying diseased or superfluous crops
• Inspecting, cleaning, grading, packaging, storing and loading crops for sale or delivery to market
• Tending working animals and maintaining farm buildings, structures, equipment and water supply systems
• Storing and carrying out some processing of produce
• Promoting and marketing products, arranging the sale, purchase and transportation of produce and supplies and maintaining and evaluating records of farm activities and transactions

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$15,500 a month
• About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Tree and shrub crop growers
• Animal producers not elsewhere classified
• Poultry producers
• Apiarists and sericulturists
• Livestock and dairy producers
• Gardeners, horticultural and nursery growers

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a field crop and vegetable grower?

Usually not. Only 6% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a field crop and vegetable grower?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026