economy

In recent years, irrigation has been introduced into hundreds of thousands of hectares of paddy and non-paddy fields across the country, bringing about a radical change in agricultural production.

The projects for the desalination of Lagoon Kangnyong and the building of the Chongchon River-Phyongnam irrigation waterway and the Hwangju Kindung waterway were completed to perfect the irrigation systems in hundreds of thousands of hectares of paddy and non-paddy fields in a matter of three years.

Therefore, officials and farmers in the agricultural sector could do farming without any worries about water, thus attaining enormous success from early cereal crop farming this year.

This year, the area for wheat cultivation across the country was increased by tens of thousands of hectares over last year and the national production plan was overfulfilled by more than 20 percent despite the persistent unfavourable weather conditions.

Farms in Kangnyong County, which had been troubled by water shortage every year, reaped a bumper harvest in wheat and barley farming this year, thanks to the desalination of Lagoon Kangnyong.

As water was sufficiently supplied, other rural areas in South Hwanghae Province increased grain yields by sowing crops in the right time and manuring and cultivating them in a scientific and technological way.

In North Hwanghae Province, the project for repairing the Miru Plain waterway was carried out. As a result, farms in the plain increased their per-hectare yields, though they had produced poor yields in the past due to unfavourable soil character and weather conditions in the rainy season.

In particular, Hwangju County overfulfilled its early cereal crop production plan by 50 percent, thanks to the construction of the long Hwangju Kindung waterway.

Other areas and farms of the province, including Rinsan and Sohung counties, also reaped good crops of wheat and barley thanks to the irrigation system.

Farms across the country have also been successful in the farming of not only early grain crops but also such other crops as paddy rice.

As the Chongchon River-Phyongnam irrigation waterway was built and the irrigation projects including the overhaul of the Kaechon-Lake Thaesong waterway and Phyongnam irrigation waterway were carried out, life-giving water flowed to the fields of South Phyongan Province, resulting in great progress in grain production this year.

And as the project for making dykes permanent was pushed forward, Sukchon and Mundok counties could do farming safely, expecting to produce higher yields than last year.

North Phyongan Province laid a secure foundation for safe paddy rice farming by repairing and expanding dozens of kilometres of the waterway section and built structures in dozens of places between Tongnaegang reservoir and Honggondo tideland and pushing the repair of defective sections of the irrigation waterway between Maebong reservoir and Honggondo tideland.

The irrigation systems enabled the flat counties of Kumya and Hamju in South Hamgyong Province to carry out their grain production plans. In particular, dozens of farms in Kumya County including the Inhung Farm are pressing on with threshing, looking forward to higher grain yields.

North Hamgyong and Kangwon provinces and Nampho Municipality have also enjoyed considerable benefits from the irrigation systems.

Many areas including Pongchon, Pyoksong and Jongphyong counties and Tanchon City have become able to increase paddy rice production, as they restored paddy fields which had been converted into dry fields due to water shortage in the past.

The solution of the water problem has also brought about successes in dry-field rice farming.

Several areas and farms including Jongju City and Yomju and Pakchon counties expect a fine crop of dry-field rice thanks to the irrigation systems.

The stirring reality promises a steady growth in agricultural production in the country.