North Korean northern alpine regions like
Yangkang and North Hamkyung Provinces have seen an unusually bountiful
blueberry harvest this year, and foreign currency earning-enterprises are using
the increase in crop as opportunity to procure much-needed foreign currency for
the nation.
A source from Yangkang Province reported to Daily NK on
September 3rd, “State-run enterprises are a given, but even groups like the
Chosun Union of Democratic Women are being mobilized to pick blueberries,”
going on to explain that news of the plentiful harvest spread late, so turning
to these groups to gather the crop was a quick solution. Extensive fields to grow the berries were developed in the early 1990s
in the Baegam and Samjiyeon Counties of Yangang Province; residents and
students in those areas, as well as Hyesan, have also been called on to
contribute to the collection effort.
Although blueberries are considered very
precious in North Korea, they were not a main source for earning foreign
capital until recently. Residents normally enjoy the fruit straight off the
bush, or crushing and adding sugar for consumption as a sweet beverage. The
taste and quality of the fruit are far superior than that of grapes available
in the North, so they are often employed as a fermented drink akin to wine,
distilled blueberry liquor, jam, and juice.
According to the source, those called to
duty are required to gather 10kg of the berries per day, for duration of 10
days, after which they turn the total into to provincial foreign-currency
earning enterprises. If residents find themselves with any of the fruit
leftover after submission, they maintain the right to sell them in the
market, or take them home for personal
consumption. Particularly diligent
individuals have been gathering up to 20kg a day for the 10-day period, twice
their required allotment, to reap market sale profits of up to 500-600 RMB for
their efforts.
The harvested berries are sent for processing
in plants in Hyesan, Baekam, and Samjiyeon, with additional facilities in other areas of Yangang
Province, where the concentrated juice is produced for export to China. The concentrate is obtained by pressing then filtering
the fresh fruit, followed by evaporating the excess water to form the final
concentrated product. Last year the
processing and packaging of the fruit for export took place in Hyesan, a major
city in Yangkang Province and the nearest hub to Samjiyeon, the official
hometown of Kim Jong Il.
Last year a kilo of the berries fetched up
to 35-40 RMB [$5.50-$6 USD], but this year has seen prices rise to 60 RMB,
thanks to a plentiful crop and increasing demand for the fruit. Merchants have
swarmed to gather and quickly turn a profit on the blueberries, for which the
purchase price this year has almost doubled and are selling as soon as it hits
the markets.
Some traders are pooling their resources to
yield better results, “The amount of fruit we can collect individually is
small, but if we combine efforts we can make a lot more,” many say, noting, “We
don’t know where all the money we hand over to those foreign currency earning
companies goes.”
“Since after fulfilling our allotment we
can keep the rest for personal profit, most are absorbed in reaping as much
as they can while it lasts,” he concluded.
