＜Inside N. Korea＞ Signs of Starvation: Farmers Forced to Survive off of Potatoes as Regime’s Unreasonable Quotas Leave Them with Nothing

◆ Robbed by the regime, farmers go hungry in order to meet excessive quotas

According to reporting partners, grain production plans were announced for the year at the end of last March. These orders have been passed to cities, counties, and cooperative farms through the National Planning Commission.

This year’s plans call for a total of 700 million tons of grain to be produced, with 6 tons of rice, 12 tons of corn, and 40 tons of potatoes expected to be produced for every 10,000 square meters of farmland. In addition, subdivided plans will be delivered to each cooperative farm according to the quality of their farmland.

“The figures put out by the national plan are written as a formality, they have no meaning at all. Farmers say that the current goal is completely unreasonable. They have been worried about how they will eat since early April and are anxious from trying to maintain the high production quota,” said a reporting partner.

In the case of one farm in Pochon County, Yanggang Province, the production quota for corn was set at 8 tons per 10,000 square meters. The actual output of the farm, however, was only 3.2 tons of corn.

The “spring shortage” faced by farmers is a hardship repeated every year. This year, however, it is beginning very early. Kim Jong-un, meanwhile, in a bid to save foreign currency in the face of sanctions, will attempt to minimize food imports. As such, it is very likely that the government will force this burden upon farmers by continuing to impose excessive quotas.

Editor’s notes on North Korean reporters
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