Premier Kim Tok Hun, who is also member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and vice-president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, inspected the agricultural sector in North and South Phyongan provinces.

Going round farms in Jongju and Sunchon cities, Pakchon, Unjon, Kwaksan, Sonchon, Uiju and Unsan counties and other areas, the premier met agricultural officials and workers concentrating all efforts on the immediate farming to attain the goal of grain production for this year set forth by the Party and learned in detail about the farming situation.

He urged the agricultural guidance organs to ensure the sci-tech guidance over farming processes in conformity with the regional features, decisively improve the guidance methods of officials and, in particular, conduct the work for preparing agricultural workers as masters of scientific farming with a correct methodology.

He stressed the need for farms to properly manure and tend wheat and barley on the basis of a correct analysis of the effects of abnormal weather on the growth and yield of crops, take responsible care of rice seedling beds according to varieties and finish the ploughing of paddy and non-paddy fields in the right time.

He called for qualitatively accelerating the irrigation project by concentrating efforts and means, ensuring the timely supply of materials needed for the project at relevant units and taking thorough measures for irrigation of the first crops for the present.

Visiting the Jongju Tractor Parts Factory and the Sonchon County Organic Compound Fertilizer Factory, the premier stressed the need to conduct a brisk technical innovation movement for enhancing the precision of processing products and produce and supply enough quality organic fertilizer to farms.

The field consultative meetings discussed the issues of taking thorough sci-tech steps to overcome the effects of the disastrous abnormal weather and ensure high and stable yield, increasing the area sown with wheat in relevant areas in a planned way and pushing ahead with the work to breed and introduce varieties with short growth period and strong resistance to drought and salinity at agricultural scientific research units.

Meanwhile, the premier visited the regional-industry factories under construction in Songchon County. He encouraged the soldier-builders speeding up the project while ensuring the construction quality as required by the design and building methods and urged the county to effectively push ahead with the work for creating raw material bases necessary for the operation of factories.