Last year the DPRK made remarkable achievements in agricultural production under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea which set it as the main task of the rural development strategy to solve the food problem by increasing agricultural production.

The national grain production plan was overfulfilled by 7 percent and the high-yield farms and workteams increased to over 680 and over 6 300 respectively, six times more than in 2023, and over 20 900 sub-workteams became high-yield ones, 11 times more than in 2023. And the high-yield farmers numbered over 65 100.

In particular, the area for wheat cultivation increased and the per-hectare yield increased rapidly, thus fully demonstrating the validity and vitality of the new agricultural policy of the WPK on changing the structure of grain production and pushing ahead with rice and wheat farming. And precious experience was accumulated for the stable and sustainable development of the country’s agricultural production.

This is a precious fruition of the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un, who worked out a grand plan for putting the country's agriculture on a definite upward stage and ushering in a new era of bringing about rapid development of the socialist countryside and is energetically leading the struggle for its realization.

Looking round the farm machine exhibition on January 2 last year, he made sure that the farm machine exhibition Development of the Farm Machine Industry-2023 served as an important occasion in clearly confirming the direction of the development of the country's farm machine industry. And he energetically led the drive for increased grain production all year round.

He took measures to ensure that fertilizer, plastic sheets, fuel and other farming materials and farm machines were provided on a top-priority basis in the right time, and saw to it that the work to readjust and reinforce the irrigation system was pushed forward as a nationwide undertaking.

At the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, he set it as a major task to complete the irrigation system, which is the key to farming. At the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK he clarified the concrete tasks and ways for improving the irrigation projects for the planned areas, including paddies short of water and paddy and dry fields prone to damage by drought and flooding, by mobilizing all forces and means.

Thus new miracles and feats were performed in the irrigation construction of the country last year in the wake of 2023.

Last year irrigation projects for more than 236 000 hectares of paddy and dry fields were completed, including the construction of more than 4 000 pumping stations, the laying of over 3 500 kilometres of pipes, the building and expansion of groundwater facilities in over 7 500 places and of irrigation facilities in over 2 100 places and the building and repair of over 16 700 kilometres of waterways. This proved effective in farming last year.

In particular, irrigation facilities for tens of thousands of hectares of dry fields were renovated and various irrigation methods were applied mainly in the areas prone to drought to ensure safe yield despite the extreme weather, including drought and high temperature, last year after the previous year.

The Kangdong Combined Greenhouse Farm was built, which is far greater in size and production capacity than the Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm built as a large-scale greenhouse farm several years ago and lead the latter by one generation, and the Kwangchon Chicken Farm whose meat and egg production has been put on an intensive and scientific basis was completed to provide citizens of the capital city of Pyongyang with fresh vegetables and tasty and nutritious meat and eggs.

All these successes are associated with the leadership of the General Secretary.

The successes and experience gained last year serve as a great encouragement and stepping-stone to the agricultural workers who have entered the straight course of attaining the goal set by the Eighth Congress of the Party for the agricultural sector.