|
North Korea AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND FISHERIES
The task of increasing agricultural production beyond simple
recovery from the Korean War was not easy. The country's sparse
agricultural resources limit agricultural growth. Climate,
terrain, and soil conditions are not particularly favorable for
farming
(see The Physical Environment
, ch. 2). Only about 18
percent of the total landmass, or approximately 2.2 million
hectares, is arable; the major portion of the country is rugged
mountain terrain. The weather varies markedly according to
elevation, and lack of precipitation, along with infertile soil,
makes land at elevations higher than 400 meters unsuitable for
purposes other than grazing. Precipitation is geographically and
seasonally irregular, and in most parts of the country as much as
half the annual rainfall occurs in the three summer months. This
pattern favors the cultivation of paddy rice in warmer regions
that are outfitted with irrigation and flood control networks.
Where these conditions are lacking, however, farmers have to
substitute other grains for the traditional favorite.
Farming is concentrated in the flatlands of the four west
coast provinces, where a longer growing season, level land,
adequate rainfall, and good, irrigated soil permit the most
intensive cultivation of crops. A narrow strip of similarly
fertile land runs through the eastern seaboard Hamgyng provinces
and Kangwn Province, but the interior provinces of Chagang and
Yanggang are too mountainous, cold, and dry to allow much
farming. The mountains, however, contain the bulk of North
Korea's forest reserves while the foothills within and between
the major agricultural regions provide lands for livestock
grazing and fruit tree cultivation.
Since self-sufficiency remains an important pillar of North
Korean ideology, self-sufficiency in food production is deemed a
worthy goal. Another aim of government policies--to reduce the
"gap" between urban and rural living standards--requires
continued investment in the agricultural sector. Finally, as in
most countries, changes in the supply or prices of foodstuffs
probably are the most conspicuous and sensitive economic concerns
for the average citizen. The stability of the country depends on
steady, if not rapid, increases in the availability of food items
at reasonable prices. In the early 1990s, there also were reports
of severe food shortages.
The most far-reaching statement on agricultural policy is
embodied in Kim Il Sung's 1964 "Theses on the Socialist Agrarian
Question in Our Country," which underscores the government's
concern for agricultural development. Kim emphasized
technological and educational progress in the countryside as well
as collective forms of ownership and management. As
industrialization progressed, the share of agriculture, forestry,
and fisheries in the total national output declined from 63.5
percent and 31.4 percent, respectively, in 1945 and 1946, to a
low of 26.8 percent in 1990. Their share in the labor force also
declined from 57.6 percent in 1960 to 34.4 percent in 1989.
Data as of June 1993
|
