North Korea farming remains one of the regime’s most persistent vulnerabilities, with chronic food insecurity rooted in poor soil, outdated infrastructure, ideological constraints on agricultural reform, and the ongoing tension between collective farming and the individual responsibility system. Daily NK covers North Korea farming through reports on harvest conditions, seasonal mobilizations, fertilizer and equipment shortages, agricultural policy directives from Pyongyang, and the ground-level reality facing farmers across the country’s provinces. Our in-country sources provide some of the most detailed and timely reporting on North Korea’s agricultural situation available in English.
Tag: farming
Soaring grain prices bury farm workers in debt
Soaring grain prices have left farm workers in North Korea’s North Hwanghae province facing a hungry winter in 2026. Many borrowed food and daily...
Empty-handed farmers drive up rice prices
Farm workers in South Hwanghae province are flooding local markets to buy rice in November 2026, with tighter state grain procurement leaving them with...
Farmer confronts party official about state propaganda
A Workers’ Party official in North Hamgyong province was left red-faced after a middle-aged farmer openly rebuffed his call to emulate the heroes of...
Farm workers drop rice bundles to steal grain
North Korean farm workers are siphoning off grain during the 2026 fall harvest by secretly dropping rice bundles on the way to threshing grounds....
Kimchi shortage exposes farm policy flaws
A poor 2026 harvest of radishes and napa cabbage is set to cause a kimchi shortage in parts of North Korea this winter. The...
North Korean rice prices top 50,000 won for first time
Rice prices in North Korean markets topped 50,000 North Korean won per kilogram for the first time in late October 2026. The record comes...
For some North Koreans, harvest duty becomes a picnic
North Korea’s 2026 fall harvest mobilization looks very different depending on where people work. At some well-funded state agencies and enterprises in South Pyongan...
Farm workers balk as Pyongyang pushes electronic payment cards
North Korean authorities are pressing South Pyongan province farm workers to load their savings onto electronic payment cards, saying the cashless shift will prevent...
Rice prices climb again in North Korea as fresh corn drives...
Rice prices in North Korean markets turned upward again in early October 2026, even as corn prices kept falling. The split shows how slowly...
Hamhung teachers ordered to wear skirts during School Support Month
Hamhung teachers must now wear skirts in the classroom during North Korea’s October 2026 School Support Month, a rule that has angered female educators...
