There is an IT product which is widely used among agricultural workers now.

It is “Hwanggumyolmae (golden fruit)”, an agricultural sci-tech service program.

Jointly developed and introduced by the Agricultural Informatization Institute under the Academy of Agricultural Science and North Hwanghae Provincial Posts and Telecommunications Management Bureau, the program helps users browse agricultural sci-tech data and receive question-and-answer service through the mobile communications network.

The developers continue to update its functions by synthesizing opinions of the agricultural workers they get while travelling around the agricultural production units throughout the country.

This year, they have further perfected the computer program by adding and updating several functions.

The functions of the program are largely classified into those of browsing crop growth forecast data and data on preparations for farming according to seasons, providing question-and-answer service and exchanging information about farming materials.

Users can have access to data on crop growth forecast, latest farming technologies and experience in the field on smart phones in which the program is installed and take measures instantly to solve the problems arising in the manuring and cultivating of crops with the help of related experts.

In particular, they can browse regional forecast data on the basis of regional information they registered for as well as central forecast data on crop growth and ask questions by directly choosing experts in any fields.

The farming materials information exchange function includes not only that of browsing information about registered farming materials but also products registering function which enables users to newly register farming materials they want to introduce.

Users can also measure the temperatures of water and soil and the amount of water flowing through waterways and calculate the rice grains for measuring the weight of 1 000 grains by connecting different kinds of measuring devices to their smart phones.

The Academy of Agricultural Science effectively organizes the activities of the question-and-answer service team comprising eminent scientists of all institutes under it to provide every convenience for the program users.

At first, the team consisted of only a handful of scientists. But now their number has increased to several dozen as questions asked by the agricultural workers increase day by day and their contents and forms are diversified.

The members of the question-and-answer service team work hard to give scientific answers to farmers in plain language and as quickly as possible so that they can take proper scientific and technical measures in each farming process rapidly and correctly.

Now, the agricultural workers affectionately call the program a “guide to rich harvest” and “close companion for overcoming the sudden whims of the weather”.

Saying that they enjoyed immense benefits from “Hwanggumyolmae” in last year’s farming and reaped the richest harvest ever known at their farms, farmers of the Onsuphyong Farm under the North Hamgyong Provincial Rural Economy Committee and those of workteam No. 2 of the Sinphyong Farm in Jongphyong County of South Hamgyong Province took photographs of high piles of straw-bags of crops and sent them to the developers early this year.

Now the developers set themselves an ambitious goal to make the program serve as a powerful means of laying the foundations of informatization of agricultural production by further developing the program and devote all their knowledge and energy to attain it.