CHAPTER 6 AID PROJECTS

UN consolidated Inter-Agency appeal

The United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeals of 2000 and 2001 for DPR Korea, launched in November 1999 and November 2000 respectively, sought funds for agricultural production through the "double cropping programme - spring and main crops". External requirements for this programme for the years 2000 and 2001 amounted to US$20 096 000 and US$20 544 804 for agricultural inputs, consisting mainly of fertilizer, pesticides and agricultural tools.

FAO's agricultural emergency relief operations contributed significantly to the double cropping programme formulated by AREP. FAO also extended support to the double cropping and crop diversification programme through Technical Cooperation Projects (TCP).

The rationale of agricultural input assistance for the AREP proposals, including double cropping, is based on the following concepts:

Three times more food can become available if international assistance is extended as input aid rather than as food aid.

Food aid, although critical to relieve widespread human suffering in an emergency situation, by its nature is unsuitable to cover, reliably and durably, the shortfall of domestic production caused by the unavailability of agricultural inputs.

A summary of major agricultural input assistance through FAO is given in Table 16.

More detailed information on the projects of 2000 and 2001 is given below.

Project 1 - OSRO/DRK/001/SWE: support to the "agricultural production and diversification of the double-cropping in 2000; spring and main crops" programme

The general objective of the project was to increase productivity and provide a sustainable improvement in food security. The immediate objective was to assist the Government in its efforts to increase food production with the supply of fertilizer, for the 2000 spring/main planting season.

The project provided 2 273 tonnes urea and 2 010 tonnes NPK (15-15-15).

The project covered 15 147 ha of spring barley/wheat on 341 cooperative farms located in 72 counties in nine provinces/municipalities suitable for the cultivation of spring barley/wheat.

About 272 800 farming families working on 341 cooperative farms were identified as the target beneficiaries.

The Government ensured the availability of a sufficient quantity of spring barley/wheat seeds to match the fertilizer provided through the project. It also made provision for adequate technical assistance and internal logistics for the storage, distribution and utilization of the input provided. Further, the Government supplemented the nutrient supply for the crops through organic and bio-fertilizers.

The Government arranged for the exchange of information between the relevant research institutions, the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO concerning cereal production on the co-operative farms during the growing season, in order to work out appropriate solutions to the production problems.

Additional food grain production of about 45 441 tonnes was achieved.

Project 2 - OSRO/DRK/005/NOR: support to the agricultural production of the double cropping programme in 2000/2001; winter crops. fertilizer supply

An area of about 56 720 ha was covered under the winter wheat/barley double cropping programme of 2000/01. In order to provide support to this programme, FAO extended emergency assistance through its Technical Cooperation Programme, making provision for supply of the most urgently needed input i.e. fertilizer.

The project provided 1 200 tonnes of urea and 1 200 tonnes of NPK 17-17-17.

The fertilizers were distributed to 164 cooperative farms. In all, about 131 200 farming families working on 164 cooperative farms were identified as the target beneficiaries. The project covered 8 000 ha of cropped area. The identification of the project area in the nine provinces of DPR Korea was effected in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture, DPR Korea. The break down by province of the winter cropped area under the double-cropping programme is indicated in Figure 6.

The winter wheat/barley crop was sown in late September/early October 2000. The required quantity of seeds of wheat variety 'Jin Dong 8' and barley, mostly 'Red Sun 3', at 150 to 200 kg/ha were made available by DPR Korea in the project areas. Most of the fields were under winter wheat. The co-operative farms applied seed at a rate of 150 to 200 kg/ha.

The fertilizers allocated under the project were applied to the winter wheat/ barley crop as shown in Table 17.

The winter wheat/barley crop under the project received a further application of 50 kg urea as a top dressing at the panicle initiation application stage (late April-middle May).

Figure 6 Area under double cropping

In order to improve fertilizer use efficiency, measures such as split application, mixing of fertilizer with FYM before broadcasting, application of FYM as a basal dressing and the use of EM were implemented.

Yield expectations from the project are given in Table 18. Under present weather conditions an additional food grain production of about 10 000 tonnes is anticipated on an area of 8 000 ha on the 164 cooperative farms receiving fertilizer supplies under the project.

The yields were lower than the potential three t/ha on fields that received fertilizer because of drought.

Project 3 - TCP/DRK/0065/E: FAO technical cooperation programme (TCP) for the 2000/01 cropping season of winter wheat/barley

Fertilizers provided consisted of 1100 tonnes of NPK 17-17-17 of Chinese origin and 1 100 tonnes of urea (46 % N).

The project covered 7 333 ha of cropped area. Table 19 shows the fertilizer application schedule.

The fertilizers were distributed to 183 cooperative farms located in 57 counties in nine provinces.

Yield expectations from the project are given in Table 20. Under the present weather conditions, an additional food grain production of about 9 500 tonnes was anticipated from the area.

Concerning the two projects described below, it should be noted that the monitoring field visits in 2001 were made between April and early July, before the main crops were harvested.

Project 4 - OSRO/DRK/101/SWE: support to the agricultural production and diversification of the double-cropping programme in 2001; spring and main crops

The general objective of the project was the increase of productivity and a sustainable improvement in food security. The immediate objective was to assist the Government in its efforts to increase food production with the supply of fertilizer, for the 2001 spring/main planting season.

The project provided 5 235 tonnes urea.

The project covered 36 120 ha of spring barley/wheat and 11 430 ha of rice/maize on 776 cooperative farms located in 90 counties in seven provinces suitable for the cultivation of spring barley/wheat and summer rice/maize.

The beneficiaries consisted of about 620 800 farming families working on 776 cooperative farms.

The Government ensured the availability of a sufficient quantity of spring barley/wheat and summer rice/maize seed to match the fertilizer provided through this project. The government also made provision for adequate technical assistance and internal logistics for the storage, distribution and utilization of the input provided. Further, the Government supplemented the nutrient supply through organic and bio-fertilizers and met a part of the nutrient requirement for the spring barley/wheat crop through its own and alternative resources. The Government also met the fertilizer requirements for nurseries of rice and maize in the same way.

The Government arranged for the exchange of information between the relevant research institutions, the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO concerning cereal production on the co-operative farms during the growing season, in order to work out appropriate solutions to the production problems.

Additional food grain production was estimated at about 63 780 tonnes through the planned area of 36 120 ha of spring barley/wheat and 11 430 ha of summer rice/maize crop on 776 cooperative farms receiving fertilizer supplies under the project.

Project 5 - OSRO/DRK/102/FIN: support for the agricultural production of the double-cropping programme, 2001; main and winter crops

The 2001 United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for DPR Korea, launched in November 2000, sought funding support for agricultural production through the double cropping programme 2001-main and winter crops. The Government of Finland met in part the needs for fertilizer for the programme.

The project provided 1 546 tonnes of urea originating from China.

Double crops of summer rice and maize received fertilizer applications at various stages of crop growth in accordance with the recommendations finalized in consultation with the MOA, DPR Korea, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the international consultant. The distribution plan involved application of 300 kg/ha of urea (138 kg N/ha) to the rice and maize crops. The Government, through other sources, partly met the phosphate and potash requirements. The crops received nutrient supplementation through application of organic and bio-resources i.e. compost at 10 to 20 t/ha, ash at one t/ha and EM at 20 to 120 kg/ha.

Identification of the project area in the seven provinces of DPR Korea was effected in consultation with the MOA. The 1 546 tonnes of urea were made available for distribution to 109 cooperative farms in 26 counties in seven provinces. About 87 200 farming families working on the 109 cooperative farms were identified as the target beneficiaries.

Yield expectations from the project; based on discussions and field observations, for rice and maize, are given in Table 21. An additional food grain production of about 12 885 tonnes was anticipated, through 5 154 ha of double crop summer rice/maize.

The main maize crop was adversely affected by drought since it is grown in the uplands, usually without irrigation. About 45 percent of the total area under maize also was affected by drought. Lack of water resulted in delayed maize transplanting and a high rate of plant mortality necessitated replanting. About 30 percent of the area was replanted and around 15 percent of the area was planted three times. Replanting at various stages made the fields look patchy with uneven growth. In the case of direct seeded maize, reseeding was necessary.

The prospects for the rice crop seemed to be favourable but they depended to a considerable extent on adequate irrigation during subsequent months. The substitution of rice with other crops such as sorghum, millet and vegetables, mainly on account of the shortage of irrigation water, was observed at some locations. Rains during the second half of June and early July had a favourable effect on the crop.