Indelible Traces Left on Crop Fields

DPRK Farming
President Kim Il Sung paid close attention to the development of his country’s agriculture, visiting the cooperative farms across the country all his life. He visited the Tongbong Cooperative Farm in Hamju County, South Hamgyong Province in May Juche 67 (1978). Feasting his eyes on rice seedlings and farmers digging the seedlings, he expressed his satisfaction with the healthy seedlings. He then clarified the ways of bringing about an innovation in farming in the eastern coastal regions by overcoming the negative impacts of the cold front. When he was giving field guidance at the Wangjaesan Cooperative Farm in Onsong County, North Hamgyong Province, which is located at the northern tip of the country, he acquainted himself with rice farming there and taught the local farmers the defects and aftermath of the stereotyped irrigation method. Saying that he was happy when the fertility of all crop fields was improved to increase the production of cereals, he continued his on-site guidance at cooperative farms, including those in the reclaimed tidal flats on the West Sea of Korea, in the northern border area and in the remote mountains. Holding a torch in the dead of night, he selected the site of a reservoir for a farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang, and he visited Yonbaek Plain several times, a granary in the western region, saying he wanted to work as an “adviser” to its farming. Sometimes when he met farmers, he unreservedly discussed farming methods with them, informing them of the experience he had gained at the experimental plot at his house. He continued visiting the rich farms to see their farmers becoming richer, and poor farms to make their farmers rich. His devoted efforts for the development of agriculture can be seen through the fact that he became an honorary member of the Wonhwa Cooperative Farm in Phyongwon County, South Phyongan Province, and gave detailed guidance to its farming. He visited cooperative farms even in the last days of his life. In June Juche 83 (1994), he visited the Kumdang Cooperative Farm in Onchon County, and expressed his satisfaction at its farming after acquainting himself with the estimated output of maize per hectare. That day, it was dusty because of the strong wind from the West Sea. Officials asked him to go back several times, but he looked round the fields for a long time, saying that he could see a bumper harvest only when he exposed himself to such wind. Nearly half of the distance he covered for field guidance was that he covered to visit farms. The devoted efforts he made for rich harvests remain etched in the minds of the Korean people.

2021-07-08