TWO-WHEELED FARMERS – THE COUNTRYSIDE ON THE MOVE…
Just a few...
TWO-WHEELED FARMERS – THE COUNTRYSIDE ON THE MOVE…
Just a few decades ago, North Korea’s pastoral scene was heavily punctuated with the steady chugging of tractors criss-crossing its endless paddy fields, helping raise production and ease the labours of the agrarian workers. The country was justly proud of the level of its agricultural mechanisation; the number of its steel workhorses far out-stripping those of its Asian neighbours. Now, the only blemishes on the sea of green are the bent backs of the labourers, the ever present water buffaloes and the white splashes of egrets. Few mechanical beasts are to be seen prowling the landscape.
The reason for the decline? The story behind this mechanical rise and fall is revealed in Felix Abt’s A CAPITALIST IN NORTH KOREA: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom.
But Felix observed signs that the downward slide has been reversing: with more and more farmers taking to bicycles for their daily commute to the fields. Not fleets of combine harvesters, but a clear sign that movement is in the right direction.
Read more about North Korean agriculture and farmers in Felix’s book:
