Changing Sepho Area

Consisting of Sepho, Phyonggang and Ichon counties in Kangwon Province, the Sepho area is a tableland rising over 600 metres above sea level. Sepho means that the region has much snow, rain and wind. In this area, once it snows or rains, the wind drives the rain and snow sideways. When the wind blows, you can hardly keep yourself steady. The unfavourable weather is tormenting in all seasons.

The shallow layer of soil in this area is not suitable for grain crops, but fodder grass like orchard grass and alfalfa, girasole, radish and sugar beet grow well. The annual precipitation in the area that is greater than other regions, good ventilation and favourable condition for travel—these all are terms advantageous to stock farming.

In late 2012 the DPRK government decided to change the Sepho area into a large-scale stockbreeding base and develop the country’s stockbreeding with the area as a paradigm. The central headquaters was organized to direct a stockbreeding base project in the Sepho area, and a master plan of the base and designs of all objects were completed in a short span of time.

This is the first large-scale project in the stockbreeding history of Korea to make tens of thousands of hectares of grassland and build many stables and dwelling houses and livestock product processing bases. In view of the existing formula it was thought to take 50 years.

In early December that year a lot of builders across the country came to the area to hold a meeting for the implementation of the decision and started the project. At the time, owing to the unprecedentedly biting cold, the temperature dropped down to as low as 29 degrees below zero and the land was frozen down to as deep as 60-80 cm. In such hard conditions the soldier builders of the Korean People’s Army plowed hundreds of hectares a day. The builders from the Korea Taeyang Group, too, finished the plowing of 60 hectares in 13 days by increasing the operation of rolling stocks and plowing the frozen land even at night.

Thousands of hectares were reclaimed in some 20 days after the start of the project, and over 15 000 tons of slaked lime and carbide slag were secured in a little over a month. The builders from the Korea Taehung Group dug over 300 tons of peat for the production of hukbosan fertilizer in a week. More than 68 700 tons of land improver were prepared and 270 000 tons of organic fertilizer produced before last year’s sowing season began. As a result, man-made grassland and windbreak forest came to be laid as scheduled.

In half a year the builders plowed over 8 000 hectares of land, carried out double and treble plowing of over 4 000 hectares and produced hundreds of thousands of tons of land improver. In less than a year, the soldier builders set up more than 70 blocks, and the builders from Jagang Province erected general-purpose stables in a hygienic and cultured way and secured over 3 000 heads of livestock of eight kinds including more than 300 pigs and over 500 goats.

So far, tens of thousands of hectares of land have come under cultivation, and the natural grassland project finished, and thousands of hectares of man-made grassland created. One thousand and hundreds of kilometres of roads including those for grazing in Sepho, Ichon and Phyonggang regions have been laid and hundreds of kilometres of waterway stretched. Millions of trees have been planted for windbreak and hundreds of thousands of tons of home-made manure produced. For the land improvement, peat resources were located and slaked lime and humus have been applied to fields.

The final stage of the outer wall treatment of the Sepho Hotel was finished and hundreds of dwelling blocks and stables went up. Several projects such as a livestock research institute, an epizootic prevention centre and a production base of fermented feed additives were completed.

A foundation of livestock growing was laid by securing tens of thousands of heads of livestock of several kinds like cattle, sheep, goat, rabbit and goose. More than 30 000 bombs dropped by the US imperialists during the Korean war (June 1950-July 1953) have been removed and grass seeds planted in their places. Many sci-tech problems arising in improving the acid soil and cold and wet land in the Sepho area, introducing artificial insemination by good breeds and creating windbreak forests and man-made and natural grasslands, have been solved. Some problems related to establishing a proper system in gathering and cultivating seeds of various kinds of fodder grass with strong vitality and high productivity have been solved successfully.

Now, in Korea, artificial grasslands are made on the principle of avoiding destruction of the ecological environment after detailed investigation of all the terrain conditions, and natural grasslands are laid along the line of increasing the grass production volume per hectare through the composite management of agroforestry.

To grow a good deal of cattle, sheep, goats and other livestock in the rich, expansive grasslands in the Sepho area and afford rich table to the people by producing meat and milk products in large quantities—this is the decision of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

As the time goes by, the Sepho area is changing fast thanks to the Korean people who are determined to complete the stockbreeding base project as soon as possible.