North Korea recently handed down an order to farms in South Hwanghae Province regarding agricultural mechanization and the need for political activities to take place alongside farm work, Daily NK has learned.
“South Hwanghae Province was the first area in the country to begin its rice-planting efforts,” a reporting partner in the province told Daily NK on May 17, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Everyone, from adults to children, has been ordered to engage in the rice planting, and a new administrative order was handed down on May 10.”
In the new order, the authorities explained that South Hwanghae Province had received a large quantity of farming equipment this year and that farm work units must carefully organize and manage their personnel to carry out their rice-planting with less manpower.
In fact, the order said the government would supply farm work units that reduced their manpower with more than 50% of the fuel they need to mechanize the agricultural process.
The order also mentioned that farms must place importance on practical political activities, and that, despite it being a busy agricultural season, political activities must be emphasized to ensure that those mobilized for farmwork take the rice planting efforts seriously.
The order also emphasized that in the lead up to the 70th anniversary of Victory Day (a holiday on July 27 commemorating the signing of the Korean War Armistice) there is a need for this year’s rice-planting efforts to be carried with a fervor that will virtually guarantee a bountiful harvest.
The order explained that even in the midst of ruthless bombings during the Korean War, farmers had plowed the fields and reaped an abundant harvest with nothing but oxen and their own strength. It went on to say that party organizations must prioritize political ideological activities aimed at encouraging farmers to emulate the sacrificial spirit of those war time farmers who sent rice to soldiers on the frontline with a view to guarantee a plentiful harvest this year.
The order further stated that over the last few years, the country has failed to conduct proper farm work mobilizations due to COVID-19, and that the negative impacts of this will last until the end of this year. It went on to emphasize that farmers must overcome the current food shortages by obtaining all the food this year that they failed to harvest last year.
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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