ID :
51937
Tue, 03/24/2009 - 12:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/51937
The shortlink copeid
N. Koreans plant rice without aid from South
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- North Koreans have begun planting rice with a vow to solve the food shortage, Pyongyang's state media said Monday, despite lacking the usual aid from South Korea for the second year.
The Seoul government was still undecided about civic organizations' request to
send 3 billion won (US$2 million) worth of agricultural plastic covers and
fertilizers to North Korea, a delay that makes it virtually impossible to help
with North's rice farming this year due to time constraints.
North Korea's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said now is the right season for
planting rice and corn, which is the first stage of its annual agricultural
cycle.
"So as to get a good harvest and resolve the food issue, the rice planting work,
the first process in farming for the year, should be done well with quality and
in the right season," the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.
The paper said "rice planting is also a combat," calling for "extraordinary
resolution" and "revolutionary passion" so as not to fall behind schedule.
Workers use naturally decomposed fertilizer made of soil, rice straw, leaves or
microbes to nurture the seedbeds, it said.
Rice seedlings are usually transferred from seedbeds to fields between May and
June in North Korea, a critical time by which it needs enough fertilizer to yield
a good harvest, said Kwon Tae-jin, an analyst with the state-run Korea Rural
Economic Institute in Seoul.
Officials at Seoul's Unification Ministry said no decision has yet been made over
the civic aid request. The proposed aid was put on hold after intelligence
experts spotted activities in the North in January that appeared to be
preparations to launch a rocket. Seoul has reportedly ruled out the request as
Pyongyang has arbitrarily restricted inter-Korean border traffic in recent weeks.
After taking office about 13 months ago, President Lee Myung-bak suspended rice
and fertilizer aid to the impoverished North for the first time in a decade,
linking assistance to Pyongyang's efforts for denuclearization.
The North's state media said leader Kim Jong-il has made several visits to
fertilizer-related facilities this year, while some 150,000 university students
have helped process manure at cooperative farms.
North Korea's harvest this year will fall short of feeding its 24 million people
by about 1.17 million tons, according to the Seoul government.
SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- North Koreans have begun planting rice with a vow to solve the food shortage, Pyongyang's state media said Monday, despite lacking the usual aid from South Korea for the second year.
The Seoul government was still undecided about civic organizations' request to
send 3 billion won (US$2 million) worth of agricultural plastic covers and
fertilizers to North Korea, a delay that makes it virtually impossible to help
with North's rice farming this year due to time constraints.
North Korea's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said now is the right season for
planting rice and corn, which is the first stage of its annual agricultural
cycle.
"So as to get a good harvest and resolve the food issue, the rice planting work,
the first process in farming for the year, should be done well with quality and
in the right season," the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.
The paper said "rice planting is also a combat," calling for "extraordinary
resolution" and "revolutionary passion" so as not to fall behind schedule.
Workers use naturally decomposed fertilizer made of soil, rice straw, leaves or
microbes to nurture the seedbeds, it said.
Rice seedlings are usually transferred from seedbeds to fields between May and
June in North Korea, a critical time by which it needs enough fertilizer to yield
a good harvest, said Kwon Tae-jin, an analyst with the state-run Korea Rural
Economic Institute in Seoul.
Officials at Seoul's Unification Ministry said no decision has yet been made over
the civic aid request. The proposed aid was put on hold after intelligence
experts spotted activities in the North in January that appeared to be
preparations to launch a rocket. Seoul has reportedly ruled out the request as
Pyongyang has arbitrarily restricted inter-Korean border traffic in recent weeks.
After taking office about 13 months ago, President Lee Myung-bak suspended rice
and fertilizer aid to the impoverished North for the first time in a decade,
linking assistance to Pyongyang's efforts for denuclearization.
The North's state media said leader Kim Jong-il has made several visits to
fertilizer-related facilities this year, while some 150,000 university students
have helped process manure at cooperative farms.
North Korea's harvest this year will fall short of feeding its 24 million people
by about 1.17 million tons, according to the Seoul government.
