Paddy-field Fish Breeding Brisk in Farms of DPRK

Pyongyang, September 10 (KCNA) -- Farms across the DPRK have introduced paddy-field fish breeding.

According to Pak Kyong Jin, an official of the Agricultural Commission, paddy-field fish breeding is very profitable as it increases grain production without using any fertilizer and herbicide, alongside fish breeding. As fish grounds are not needed and natural food can be used for breeding fish, it is possible to increase fish production at low cost.

Fishes in paddy fields protect rice by preying on harmful insects and stimulate rice roots to increase their activity, and their excretion serves as good organic fertilizer.

It is said that the paddy fields, where fish are bred, yield not only greater per-hectare harvest than other paddy fields but also crops of higher quality.

Recently, the Samjigang Farm in Jaeryong County, South Hwanghae Province harvested a large number of catfish in fish-breeding paddy fields.

Ri Hye Suk, manager of the farm, said that one catfish is 850 grams on average and some are more than 2 kilograms, adding that tens of tons of catfish were caught per hectare in fish-breeding paddy fields. She said with pleasure that 13 tons of rice would surely be harvested per hectare in fish-breeding paddy fields without using several tons of fertilizer.

The Chilgol Vegetable Farm in Mangyongdae District of Pyongyang, the Township Farm in Sinchon County of South Hwanghae Province and the Yakjon Farm in Sukchon County of South Phyongan Province also benefit from paddy-field fish breeding.

Agricultural production units are directing efforts to putting the paddy-field fish breeding on a scientific and intensive basis, including the selection of the right fields and the solution of the feed problem, and introducing IT into the management of fish-breeding paddy fields.

The agricultural science research sector is focusing on standardizing the method of paddy-field fish breeding such as soil-specific optimal fish breeding and water temperature control for fish growth. -0-