[imText1]September 1, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Jong Il recently visited the #1116 Farm of the #534 Compound of the People’s Army with the Inter Cabinet Prime Minister, Park Bong Ju and agricultural good trader, Lee Kyung Shik “ordered forceful assessment for the national agricultural development”.
The assessment includes revolution of seeds, “adequate plant at adequate land at adequate time,” revolution of potato farming, and two crops a year.
The “revolution of seeds” and “adequate plant at adequate land at adequate time,” had been tried even when Kim Il Sung was alive, which both have failed. The only new suggestions are potato revolution and two crops a year.
Would potato revolution and two crop a year possible? Even if they were possible, what good will they do to the people? Kim Jong Il does not know the reality of the people, but here too, we can see that Kim Jong Il only tries to show off to the outside world.
So what if they can eat only the potatoes?
“Potato revolution” is literally revolutionizing potato farming. In North Korea, it is important to produce a lot of potatoes, just as in South Korea, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in 1991 succeeded in mass production of potato seed for the first time in the world.
Potato farming varies from region to region in North Korea. In northern regions such as North Hamkyung province, Yangkang province and Jagang province, they plant potato seeds in April and harvest in August and September. In the southern parts of South Hamkyung province, South Pyongan province, North Pyongan province, Kangwon province, North Hwanghe province, and South Hwanghe province plant seeds in the end of March of and harvest at the end of June.
Although the southern regions harvest earlier than the northern parts, but because the potato lacks starch, they are not inadequate for the table use. In southern parts where people eat these potatoes not only feel hunger soon after the meal but their activities are also affected. This means these potatoes are of much lower calorie compare to other normal potatoes.
In order to eat potato as main meal, they must succeed in mass production of potatoes in southern parts. These potatoes are sweet but low in calorie, so they could eat them for snack like in South Korea, but it would not be good enough as main meal. If not, they could try mass production in the northern part, but why would they produce so many potatoes from the northern regions if they could not even export them? Kim Jong Il probably does not know what people eat in which season.
Impossible two crops a year, would force make it possible?
In North Korea, “two crops a year” farming means planting two kinds of plants in the same farm at different year around period.
In South Korea, two crops a year such as rice ― barley, rice ― rape flower and rice ― potato turns. In North Korea, the purpose of the two crops a year is to solve the food problem. For this reason, they plant edible grain such as potato, barley and wheat. However, such grain plantation must be harvested at least after mid-June much after spring, which is the period people run out of food the most. Thus the two crops a year is no good. Furthermore, Kyunggi province where they are planning the two crops a year does not have appropriate land for such farming method.
Then what does Kim Jogn Il mean by the two crops a year? They say it is two crops a year, but it is actually a fraud act. In other words, what they do is that they plant corn in rows and plant potatoes or barley in between which they can harvest in mid-June. If Kim Jong Il pushes scientists, technicians, and the people for a complete two crops a year method, people will suffer for nothing.
In conclusion, potatoes can never be good enough for main meal, which will satisfy nutrition of the people. In fact, the two crops a year is not planting two crops in different periods, but planting two kinds of crops at the same time. In this sense, Kim Jong Il is acting as though he knows a lot about farming and when it fails, he can always withdraw from the cooperative farming plan and allow people for the private farming. Then the food problem will be solved without having to succeed in neither the potato revolution nor the two crops a year. The problem is not technology but the regime.
