North Korea has emphasized its significant growth in
agricultural output thanks to the bunjo [cooperative farm production
unit] system, but the workers from these farms have yet to receive their
year-end distribution, Daily NK has learned.
“It’s because the managing committee of the cooperative
farms have been handing in portions that should be distributed to farmers to
the military,” a source based in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on
Monday.
Year-end distribution usually takes place on each farm after
harvesting and threshing of the crops has been completed. After excluding
production, maintenance, operation costs, and rice for the military from the
farm’s output, any surplus is distributed among the farm workers.
However, due to measures that require farms to guarantee
rice for the military as their top priority, the distribution that should have
come to a close in December is still underway. This exacerbates an already
subpar harvest and faulty policies that have seen farmers receive less than
their fare share this harvest.
“Because of the drought last year, corn and overall
production don’t even come to half of the harvest for 2013,”
the source explained. “Military rice procurement that should have been
finalized by the end of November has yet to come to an end.”
Because of this, roughly a dozen soldiers congregate around
cooperative farms every day to receive rice donations and place more pressure
on farmers to step up production.
“These soldiers have even forced the leader of bunjo units to go
around people’s homes, either threatening them to give up hidden grains or
search their residence,” he explained as reason behind why some farmers have
lost their stocks.
Cooperative farms receive guidelines from the State Planning
Commission and Ministry of Agriculture outlining the amount of military rice
allotted to them. In turn, the farms must guarantee this supply, prioritizing
it above all else. Each year an estimated 70 percent of total production is
donated as military rice or state rice, according to the source.
“Some of the farms have been worried about making
preparations for production, thinking it may cause disruptions if all the rice
is donated to the military, so they sometimes ask workers to hide crops in
their homes,” he said. “This is why it’s not uncommon to see conflicts between
soldiers and farmers.”
Beleaguered with anxiety, many have commented on the
seeming futility of their labor, pointing out that “there’s no use in working
hard all year round since it’s the same as being forced into labor for free.”
Others have expressed their concerns about losing corn that they grew in small
vegetable gardens before getting to eat any of it.
