The goal of irrigating over 230 000 hectares of paddy and dried fields planned for this year has successfully been achieved in the DPRK.

The paddy and dry field irrigation projects for this year were completed ahead of schedule and river improvement, embankment repair and sea dike construction projects carried out in the main, opening a bright prospect for perfecting the overall irrigation system and promoting stable and sustainable agricultural development.

Water is an essential factor in the growth of crops together with land. If land is a lifeline for the country, water can be claimed to be that for agriculture. So there is an old saying that “afforestation and water conservancy is the great foundation of farming”. In this respect, it is a fundamental issue determining the future of agricultural development to readjust and reinforce the irrigation system and facilities of the country.

Having set it as a primary task for guaranteeing the stable development of agriculture to complete the overall irrigation system, the Workers’ Party of Korea defined an irrigation construction goal till 2025 at the Fourth Plenary Meeting of its Eighth Central Committee and pushed ahead with it as a huge nature-remaking project.

Accordingly, it was undertaken at a lightning tempo in the fields across the country to attain the irrigation construction goal ahead of schedule under the slogan “Unite on the strength of patriotism!”

In South Hwanghae Province, as 800 cubic metres of earth were removed on average every day, the entrance waterway project to use the water of Lake Kangnyong was pressed on at a rapid pace.

The province steps up the project for extending the Ryongmaedo Waterway to produce a high and safe yield in tideland farming.

North Phyongan Province pushed ahead with the waterway expansion project on Woldo tideland on a full scale and Nampho City finished the tasks of laying irrigation diving pipe No. 4 of the Ryonggang main waterway line and expanding the capacity of the West Sea Barrage-South Phyongan Province inland region waterway before the farming season.

The construction of pumping stations and laying of pipes gained momentum in different parts of the country to irrigate the dry fields.

Pumping stations were built in over 280 places in South Phyongan Province and in several hundred places in North Hwanghae Province.

The construction of underground water facilities and waterways also went full steam ahead.

In Jagang Province more than 1 100 underground water facilities were built and repaired and in South Hamgyong Province notable achievements were made in the readjustment of waterways for enhancing the passing capacity of water including the expansion of irrigation waterways and the repair and reinforcement of waterways.

Draining facilities were readjusted and reinforced and water sprinkling and perforated pipe and other irrigation methods were introduced to suit their situations in Pyongyang, Ryanggang Province, Kaesong City and other areas.

As a result, the projects for irrigation of over 236 000 hectares of paddy and dried fields were completed across the country, including the construction of pumping stations in over 4 000 places, the laying of over 3 500 kilometres of pipes, the construction and capacity expansion of more than 7 500 underground water facilities and irrigation facilities in some 2 100 places, and the construction and repair of 16 700-odd kilometres of waterway.

In particular, irrigation facilities have been replaced completely with new ones in over 60 000 hectares of dry fields this year following the same area last year and various irrigation methods employed, providing a guarantee for relevant areas to produce safe yields even under the abnormal weather such as drought and high temperature.