SRI International Network and Resources Center

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Summary

Rice is a staple food crop and is widely grown in DPR Korea. According to a 2015 FAO article "the planting area for rice is 563,200 hectares with an average yield of 4.7 tonnes per hectare. Although rice has 38.5 percent of national total food crop planting area, it contributes 50.8 percent to the total national food production due to its relatively higher yield compared with other food crops. Therefore rice is very important crop for national food security and increasing farmers' income in the country." With the limitations of technology, shortage of farming supplies and frequent disasters like drought and flooding, rice yield has declined in recent years. In addition, DPRK’s population is expected to expand each year by an additional 204,850 people requiring an additional production of 45,067 metric tonnes of food each year.

The first discussions of SRI in the DPRK took place in 1998 when a small delegation from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences (AAS) visited Cornell, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). In 2005, a larger delegation including AAS scientists visited Cornell under the auspices of The Asia Foundation, and there was a long discussion on SRI possibilities. In 2008, four cooperatives in the Pyongyang area with which the AFSC was working in cooperation with AAS and the Ministry of Agriculture, under the auspices of the Korean Committee for Solidarity with World People, experimented with SRI methods and achieved yield increases of 0.5-1.0 tons/ha by using just some of the practices adapted to local conditions. In 2009, the cooperatives had 250 hectares under several different versions of SRI practice. In 2010, trials are underway to assess what would be optimally wide spacing under local conditions.

During February, 2010, a delegation of rice specialists from AAS participated in an international SRI workshop in Hangzhou organized by the China National Rice Research Institute (see AFSC PowerPoint). The Asia Foundation, which supported the workshop, offered to further assist such exchanges within the East Asian region. In April 2010, AFSC conducted a tour for DPRK farm managers to visit Sichuan province in China to learn more about SRI experience in conditions fairly similar to theirs. AFSC in consultation with DPRK partners has also developed a manual on the initial stages of rice planting and a Korean language manual on SRI. Several cooperative farms in the Pyongyang region are continuing with evaluation of SRI methods in 2010.

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is encouraging evaluation of SRI methods on several cooperatives with which it works in the DPRK. The FAO office in Pyongyang has taken an interest in SRI and began a successful SRI project in 2014. The New Zealand-DPRK Society has in the past provided information on SRI to some cooperatives with which it has connections. It has dubbed a Korean soundtrack onto the training video produced by ADRA in 2004 based on Indonesian SRI demonstrations and has made this available to cooperatives in DPRK. A 2012 video produced by the American Friends Service Committee and subsequent 2014 Radio Free Asia article documents AFSC work with promoting an SRI adaptation using plastic trays. During 2013, an article in The Johns Hopkins University's 38 North website speculates that some of the increase in rice yield is likely a result of wider use of SRI. During 2015, an FAO SRI project in Kang So County helped address drought problems and increase yield to 7.2 tonnes/ha.

As of 2018, AFSC has allocated funds to continue their work with SRI and other agricultural innovations in the communes where they have been active. This NGO, which began working in North Korea in the 1990's, says that the plastic tray methods using SRI principles have continued to raise yields; North Korean authorities have continued to show great interest in the SRI practices as of 2018. Also during 2018, a North Korean farmer, Ms Kim Ri Hwa, was among model farmers from five countries of the Asia-Pacific region who received FAO awards for their innovation on October 19, 2018 at the celebration of World Food Day in the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
During early 2019, A Pyongyang Times article noted that cooperative farms would be encouraged "to introduce advanced farming methods, including the SRI, dense planting of maize and rational distribution of earlier and later crops for double or triple cropping, in order to drastically increase per-hectare yield." With regard to rice production, the government feels it is important to introduce water-saving methods and take preventive measures against damage from drought and rainy season. A 2021 article in the Pyongyang Times reported that SRI has been widely introduced into farms across the DPRK, especially cooperative farms in Pyongyang and North Phyongan Province, and Kangwon Province.

Progress and Activities

2021 Updates

• Agronomist Finds a Niche in Introducing Advanced Farming Method

  [July 25, 2021] According to an article in the Pyongyang Times, the System of Rice intensification (SRI) is now widely introduced into all farms across the DPRK thanks to Mun Myong Chol, section chief of the rice research institute of the Academy of Agricultural Science. Chol, who has been researching SRI for a dozen years, came to believe that good grain production required good seed combined with high-yielding cultivation methods. After searching through hundreds of documents and undertaking repeated field tests, he overcame various problems arising in the introduction of the SRI related to differences in rice seedling growing, rice-transplantation, water conservation, manuring fertilizers and weeding techniques.

  Mun Myong Cho selected the Chonsam Cooperative Farm in Anbyon County, Kangwon Province, as a trial application site for SRI, though it had many more difficult points than other regions due to unfavorable natural weather conditions like serious cold-weather damage, strong wind and frequent rain. He gave demonstrations, short courses and presentations on several occasions and farmers adopted SRI little by little. A farmer explained his experience gained in the course of introducing the SRI: “The SRI helps save 20 times more seeds, 30 times more vinyl sheets, and 20-50 percent of more water than the traditional method. This method has sharply reduced lots of manpower that was required for farming processes including the preparation and management of seedbeds and rice transplantation.” SRI is being introduced on an expansion basis into cooperative farms across the country including Pyongyang and North Phyongan Province, and Kangwon Province, and it has made it possible to increase 1.5-2 tons of more paddy rice yield per hectare. “I want to contribute to making our country perfectly realize self-sufficiency in food as soon as possible,” said Mun Myong Chol.

2019

• National Economic Development Strategy Highlights Role for SRI in DPRK

  [January 6, 2019] A Pyongyang Times article says that the government will work harder to increase grain output during 2019, which is the fourth year of the implementation of the five-year strategy for national economic development. "Cooperative farms will be encouraged to introduce advanced farming methods, including the System of Rice Intensification, dense planting of maize and rational distribution of earlier and later crops for double or triple cropping, so as to drastically increase per-hectare yield." With regard to rice production, the government feels it is important to introduce water-saving methods, take preventive measures against damage from drought and rainy season and constantly raise the scientific level of blight forecasting.

2018

• North Korean SRI Champion wins International Award

  [November 2, 2018] An article in the sri4women blog relates that a North Korean farmer was among model farmers from five countries of the Asia-Pacific region who received FAO awards for their innovation on October 19, 2018 at the celebration of World Food Day in the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. Ms Kim Ri Hwa's (right) efforts have seen a tenfold increase in rice production on the Maejon Cooperative Farm where she has helped the 80 farming families turn their lives around. Kim achieved her results by adopting Conservation Agriculture (CA), which helped restore the quality of the soil on the coastal farm she now manages in partnership with the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee). Once the integrity of the soil on Maejon Farm was re-established, the introduction of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) helped, over a period of seven years, to increase rice yields from 1 ton to 10 tonnes per hectare. This is an achievement not just for Ms Kim but also for SRI itself as it comes in the context of an average yield in North Korea of 5.3 tons/ha. SRI and CA are well-suited to environments where soil degradation and climate change represent such grave challenges. Both encourage eco-friendly approaches which result in healthier soils and stronger root systems in plants that are then better able to withstand strong winds, flooding, lodging and drought. CA’s no-till principle results in less compacted soil that can more easily absorb water and SRI requires up to 50% less water and reduced inputs of up to 90%. CA was introduced to North Korea over 15 years ago by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the AFSC has been encouraging the adoption of SRI in the country since 2004. “It saves equipment, it saves fertilizer, and it also saves them labour in lots of ways. So, it really is a successful innovation,” explains AFSC’s country manager for North Korea, Linda Lewis, who believes SRI now has the potential to spread nationwide. Kim Ri Hwa grew up in the city but embraced the world of agriculture after responding to a call for people to help develop the countryside. Hard work rewarded her with the position of team leader on a cooperative farm and she qualified as a crop engineer before managing the Maejon Cooperative Farm. [See full SRI4women article. For more on the other winners, see FAO announcement.]

• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to Visit SRI and Other Agriculture Work in DPRK

  [May 9, 2018] An article and audio clip (in Korean) on the Radio Free Asia website says that a delegation of US non-governmental relief organizations who are providing technical assistance to increase rice harvests in North Korea, will visit North Korea during mid-May, 2018, for a new farming course. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an NGO in the United States, will send agricultural experts and US service personnel to North Korea to confirm the performance of agricultural technology to produce more rice. Daniel Jasper, who is in charge of the Asian region at the Washington office of the group, said he and his team will visit North Korea for 10 days to see cooperative farms near Pyongyang, where they will monitor the support projects and start a new agricultural technology support project. Four or five people, including Dr. Linda Lewis and Chinese co-workers, who support North Korea projects from the Dalian office in Liaoning Province, China, are scheduled to visit North Korea and plan to investigate the spring crop situation in Pyongyang and South Pyongan Province. Jasper noted that the North Korean authorities have shown great interest practices that can reduce agrochemical such as the System of Rice Intensification, which they have been supporting since the 1990's. According to AFSC, use of plastic seedling trays, which match the timing of planting crops and seedlings, were effective, and the rice yields of four cooperative farms increased.

2017

• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Reviews Progress and Plans to Continue with SRI Promotion in DPRK

  [December 29, 2017] A recent article and audio clip (in Korean) on the Radio Free Asia website notes that the NGO American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has been able to check up on their agriculture projects in North Korea for the first time since the travel ban. AFSC, which has been promoting the use of plastic trays for SRI seedlings (see photo at right) for nearly a decade, says that yields have been improved 20% with this method. (For details of the this system, see the 2012 AFSC video.) According to the article, AFSC is budgeting $400,000 for their agricultural work in the DPRK.

2015

• FAO Project in Kang So County Helps with Drought Problems and Increases Yields

  [June 25, 2015] An article on the FAO website describes an FAO SRI project with farmers on the Yaksu Cooperative's 730 hectare farm in Kang So County, Nampo City, DPRK. While drought pushed the farm to build up its irrigation system, running it was also costly because the fuel price diesel powered water pumps is high and the electricity for the electric powered irrigation system unreliable. During 2014, FAO introduced a SRI on the farm which requires less water, through the project Improved Rice Production and Sustainability through System of Rice Intensification (TCP/DRK/3404). Yaksu farm received two greenhouses, a rice transplanter, combined harvester, improved rice seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, water pump, seeder and tractor. The farmers on this farm were are among the 1,500 people expected to benefit from the 300,000 USD FAO funded project. In addition to reduced water, seed and agrochemicals, SRI helps to control pests and diseases such as sheath blight, golden snail, root rots. The farm introduced SRI on 20 hectares and is gradually increasing the area under SRI until it covers at least 200 hectares.

  "If the SRI system is introduced to the whole country, it will increase agriculture production because even in drought, we still raise seedlings in the greenhouse using SRI technology...”, Mr. Nhi Ki Nam, chairman of the Yaksu Cooperative says. The transplanter reduced labor and improving the planting time. While 30 people are needed to transplant rice seedlings on one hectare, with the transplanter, about five people are needed. “The farm now produces 7.2 metric tonnes of rice per hectare and hopes to increase this to 8 metric tonnes per hectare. The maximum production on the Yaksu cooperative farm has been 6.2 metric tonnes, but with the SRI system, the farm can reach maximum production”, Mr. Nam says. To achieve self-sufficiency in food production DPR Korea has to increase production of rice and maize crops. The article says that it is "urgent to transform rice production with SRI to increase rice yield which requires less rice seeds, less water, less fertilizers, less labour and yet controlling pests and diseases." [See full FAO article.]

2014

• [June 26, 2014] A recent article and audio clip (in Korean) on the Radio Free Asia website discusses the continued progress of the NGO American Friends Service Committee initiative to promote an SRI adaptation that uses plastic trays to grow seedlings. For details of the system, see the AFSC video noted in the 2013 section below.

2013

• American Friends Service Produces Video on SRI Adaptation with Planting Trays

  A video produced by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) documents their work with rice production beginning in 2004. Their efforts on an SRI adaptation uses plastic trays is documented in the video Improving rice production in North Korea (DPRK). (More information about AFSC's work in the DPRK can be found on the AFSC website's North Korea section.)

• Article in Johns Hopkins 38 North Website Refers to Spread of SRI in North Korea

  An overview of FAO / World Food Programme's 2013 Crop and Food Security Assessment Report (CFSAR) for the DPRK was reviewed in a December 2013 article in 38 North (a publication that offers regular analysis of DPRK-related issues.) The article notes that the System of Rice Intensification, which the author believes was introduced about five years earlier, has reportedly become popular in the North. However, according to Randall Ireson, SRI (as practiced in the DPRK) is coupled with the use of imported plastic trays for planting the rice seedlings, thereby making implementation somewhat dependent on the availability of the trays. Nevertheless, he further notes that "some of the increase in rice yield is very likely caused by the wider use of SRI." (See full article in the 38 North publication that puts North Korean agriculture into a wider perspective.)

2010

• Current Situation with SRI in the DPRK

  Some cooperative farms in the Pyongyang region are continuing with evaluation of SRI methods as 2010 draws to a close. The growing season presents some constraints for rice production. Farmers have been particularly interested in experiments with spacing (see photo at right), but the other SRI methods suitably adapted to local conditions are also of interest. One farm manager has calculated that his farm with adaptations of SRI methods can produce 1 ton more paddy yield per hectare, and save 20,000 won per hectare.

  During a visit to DPRK in September 2010, Wuna Reilly, representative of the American Friends Service Committee in China and DPRK, who has helped to get SRI introduced in the country, gave a workshop on SRI with three farms participating. A scientist from the Academy of Agricultural Science also presented a PowerPoint on SRI as being adapted in DPRK. Wu Na reports that there is some interest from donor agencies such as UNDP and EU, which could support wider use of the resource-conserving methods. Currently, adapting water management regimes to SRI requirements presents some institutional challenges for the spread of SRI methodology.

• Rice Specialists from DPRK Participate in SRI Workshop in Hangzhou, China

  At the end of February, 2010, a delegation of rice specialists from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences (AAS) in the DPRK participated in an international SRI workshop organized and hosted by the China National Rice Research Institute in Hangzhou, where Chinese SRI researchers from Sichuan, Hunan, Heilongjiong and Zhejiang provinces exchanged and shared knowledge on SRI methods and results (see AFSC PowerPoint presentation). The Asia Foundation, which supported the workshop, offered to further assist such exchanges within the East Asian region. In April 2010, AFSC conducted a tour for DPRK farm managers to visit Sichuan province in China to learn more about SRI experience in Sichuan and its innovative rice production methodologies based on the local climate.

• Increased SRI Involvement for 2010

  The four cooperatives near Pyongyang who have been working on SRI for several years are continuing trials, with added emphasis on assessing optimal spacing under local conditions. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which also has collaborative programs focusing on improving soil fertility and sustainability underway with DPRK cooperatives, expects to introduce and evaluate SRI methods in 2010.

  The FAO office in Pyongyang has for several years taken an interest in SRI applications for DPRK conditions, and the New Zealand DPRK Society has provided information on SRI to some cooperatives with which it has connections. A Korean soundtrack has been dubbed onto the training video produced by ADRA in 2004 based on Indonesian SRI demonstrations, making this available to cooperatives in DPRK. It is now also available on YouTube in three parts: (Part I: 8:59 min.;  Part II: 10:39 min.;  Part III: 5:14 min.)

• Manuals Highlight Adaptations of SRI Methods for Conditions in DPRK

  AFSC, in consultation with DPRK partners, has developed a manual on the Initial Stages of Rice Planting, focusing on seed selection and treatment, raising seedling in plastic trays which becomes feasible with much reduced plant populations, and transplanting options. A subsequent manual will address water management options. An illustrated manual in Korean language for SRI practice has also been produced by AFSC. At the international SRI workshop convened in Hangzhou in early 2010, the AFSC representative presented a PowerPoint on the cooperative program it has with partners in the DPRK, showing pictures of the plots and fields and spacing trials.

2008-2009

• Four Cooperatives in the Pyongyang Area Evaluate SRI

  In 2008, four cooperatives in the Pyongyang area with which the AFSC was working in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and AAS, under the auspices of the Korean Committee for Solidarity with World People (KCSWP), did their own experiments and evaluations with SRI concepts and methods, focusing on improving the initial stages of crop establishment (younger seedlings, wider spacing, etc.). Special attention was paid to the conditions of agriculture in DPRK, including colder climate, poorer soils, and limitations on labor and capital investment.

  The 2008 experiments showed that paddy yields could be increased by 0.5-1.0 tons/ha by using just some of the techniques and principles adapted to local conditions, holding out the hope that even more increase could be achieved with more complete use of the SRI recommendations with appropriate modifications for climatic and other constraints. In 2009, the cooperatives had 250 hectares under several different versions of SRI practice.

1998-2005

• SRI Concepts Gaining Ground in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

  The first discussions of SRI as it might be relevant to farmers in the DPRK were in 1998 when a small delegation from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences (AAS) visited Cornell, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the reconciliation and service arm of American Quakers. In 2005, a larger delegation including AAS scientists visited Cornell under the auspices of The Asia Foundation, and there was a long discussion on SRI possibilities.

Reports and Articles

• 2019. Scientific farming to be promoted to increase output. KCNA Watch (Source: Pyongyang Times). January 6.
• 2018. North Korean SRI Champion wins International Award!. SRI4Women blog. November 2.
• 김진국 기자가 (Kim, Jin-kook, Kim). 2018. 미NGO, 신규 농업기술 지원 위해 방북 (US NGO to visit North Korea to support new agricultural technology). Radio Free Asia website. May 9. (in Korean language). This article is about a visit to North Korea by a American Friend Service to follow up on ag technologies, including SRI with individual seedlings grown in trays. See also Korean radio broadcast )
• 김진국 기자가 (Kim, Jin-kook). 2017. 북에 신농법 전수 미 NGO, 여행금지 후 첫 방북 (NGOs to transfer new farming methods to North Korea). Radio Free Asia website. [Korean article and audio clip by Radio Free Asia on the NGO AFSC's continuing efforts to promote SRI in North Korea.]
• 2015. Rice for all seasons. FAO website, DPRK section. [FAO SRI project helps increase yield and save water inYaksu Cooperative in Kang So County, Nampo City.]
• 2014. 미NGO, 쌀 증산 신기술 북에 전수(U.S. NGO expands rice production technology transfer to the north). Radio Free Asia website. June 24. [Korean language broadcast about American Friend Service work with SRI in plastic trays in North Korea.]
• Ireson, Randall. 2013. The state of North Korean farming: New Information from the UN Crop Assessment Report. 38 North website. December 18. (38 North is a project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.) [The third paragraph in the Reading between the Lines section of the article says the SRI is popular in North Korea and uses plastic trays, which, unfortunately can be hard to come by.)

Practical Information

• 2009. Agricultural Technology Dissemination Handbook for the Initial Stages of Rice-Planting: Rice Seed Treatment, Raising Seedlings in Nursery Trays, and Transplanting. American Friends Service Committee D.P.R. Korean Agriculture Program. System of Rice Intensification website. (9p.,115KB pdf)
• 2009. Agricultural Technology Dissemination Handbook for the Initial Stages of Rice-Planting. (Korean language). American Friends Service Committee D.P.R. Korean Agriculture Program. System of Rice Intensification website. (7p., 487KB pdf). [Korean language agricultural technology dissemination handbook for the initial stages of rice-planting: Rice seed treatment, raising seedlings in nursery trays, and transplanting]

Videos/Audio Clips

• Jin-gook, Kim. 2018. 미NGO, 신규 농업기술 지원 위해 방북 (US NGO to visit North Korea to support new agricultural technology). Radio Free Asia website. May 9. (in Korean language). [This article is about a visit to North Korea by a American Friend Service to follow up on ag technologies, including SRI with individual seedlings grown in trays. See also Korean radio broadcast]
• 2017 (December 29). 2017. 북에 신농법 전수 미 NGO, 여행금지 후 첫 방북 (NGOs to transfer new farming methods to North Korea). 2:09 min. Radio Free Asia website. [Korean article and audio clip by Radio Free Asia on the NGO AFSC's continuing efforts to promote SRI in North Korea.] [See English translation]
• 2012 (May 22). Improving rice production in North Korea (DPRK). 2:28 min. AFSCvideos channel, YouTube. [An SRI adaptation introduced by the American Friend Service that uses plastic trays.]
• 2009 (May 24). System of Rice Intensification. Korean Hangul Language version of the original SRI video by ADRA (an NGO in New Zealand) about SRI in Indonesia. (in three parts). Available on the danafastforward channel on YouTube.
  Part I: 8:59 min.;  Part II: 10:39 min.;  Part III: 5:14 min.

PowerPoint Presentations

• 2009. DPRK Agriculture Program: SRI Project in four local farms.
  PowerPoint by Wuna Reilly, China and DPRK Country Representative, American Friends Service Committee, presented at the Workshop on the System of Rice Intensification, Exchanging Experience in China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Internationally, held February 28 - March 2, 2010, in Hangzhou, China. 20 slides.
  
  
  
  1006 DPRK Agriculture Program: SRI Project in four local farms from SRI-Rice, CIIFAD, Cornell University

  View more presentations from SRS Program, CIIFAD, Cornell University.