Delays on repairs to roads in South Hwanghae Province damaged by Typhoon Lingling has led to shortages of coal needed for tobacco farming and agricultural production.
Damage to a major road heading to the Samchon Tobacco Farm has prevented the delivery of coal needed to operate drying machines for tobacco crops, Daily NK sources reported on Sunday.
As a way to mitigate damage to the crops due to the lack of equipment, the farm has reportedly extended the mobilization of middle-school students to haul coal to the farm in barrels.
Trucks have been unable to access the farm due to the damage to the road since at least last week.
“The area suffered heavy rainfall and the roads have become all muddy. There are so many potholes in the roads,” one of the sources told Daily NK. “It will take a long time to rebuild them.”
South Hwanghae Province was forecast to receive even more rainfall, up to 10-40 millimeters, due to another typhoon that passed over the Korean Peninsula on September 21-23. This has likely made recovery efforts in the area even more difficult.
The Samchon Tobacco Farm needs to dry out harvested tobacco leaves at the right time every summer. Farmers are putting aside recovery efforts to find ways to secure coal to power the drying machines.
North Korea is angling to make tobacco one of its major exports and the tobacco farms place significant emphasis on processing their leaves properly.
Middle schoolers have joined farmers in emergency efforts to transport coal to the farm. Both groups spent the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday transporting coal using knapsacks and backpacks.
“If the tobacco leaves aren’t dried at the right time, they lose their quality, so the farm’s management committee has sounded the alarm. The county people’s committee ultimately decided to extend the mobilization of middle school students to help out,” another Daily NK source said. “The middle school students can expect to return home over the next week or so.”
Locals witnessing the middle schoolers transporting the coal in single file referred to the spectacle as looking like “a line of ants.”
The source added that locals hope that the road will at least be temporarily repaired soon so that vehicles can bring in the coal required for the drying machines.
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