economy

The Workers’ Party of Korea's policy on actively introducing fish farming in paddy fields is demonstrating its great vitality.

Farms across the country have introduced fish farming in paddy fields and reaped a good harvest both in rice farming and fish farming this year.

Shortly ago, the Thaegam Farm in Sunan District, Pyongyang, hauled catfish from its fish breeding paddy fields.

A lot of young and middle-aged men netting lots of catfish in high spirits were a sight to behold, but the most gratifying was the yield of catfish.

One hectare of paddy fields where fish were raised produced 36 tons of catfish, 10-odd tons more than expected.

Catfish fries, which had been about 7-10cm in size at the time of release, grew to be 0.8-1.3kg in weight on average and 3.5kg at the maximum at the time of hauling.

The farm also gathered the largest ever harvest of rice in the fish breeding paddy fields while using no fertilizer at all and saving a lot of manpower.

The Ryongchon Farm in Wonsan City landed more than 110 tons of catfish from five hectares of fish breeding paddy fields.

The Yakjon Farm in Sukchon County was also filled with joy of gathering catfish. The farm caught over 100 tons of big catfish as it had selected the paddy fields with low fertility as the main ones for fish farming and conducted fish farming effectively.

The township farm in Thaethan County gathered 8.3 tons of catfish from 0.2 hectare of paddy fields it selected on an experimental basis and the farms in Paechon, Hwangju and Yonggwang counties, Phyongsong City and others gathered a large quantity of catfish.

Farms across the country have also reaped a good harvest of rice in the paddy fields where fish were raised.

Workteam No. 5 of the Kangson Farm in Chollima District, Nampho Municipality, is a typical example. It did fish farming in two hectares of paddies, where grains per ear numbered 270 on average, or 60 to 70 grains more than those in other paddies. It is said that mud raising by catfish enhanced the root activity and tillering of paddy rice and remarkably strengthened the rice stems.

At the Ryulsong Farm in Jongphyong County, soil fertility improved noticeably in the fish breeding paddy fields, while the number of productive tillers of rice increased 1.5 times and the number of grains per ear was 40 to 50 more than those in other paddies.

A large number of farms across the country are making active efforts to lay material and technical foundations for expanding paddy field fish farming.