He went round a potato plot under the workteam 1 of the farm.

Noting that potato blight and flood damage have an impact on potato harvest in July every year, he asked how it is this year. He underscored the need for the agricultural field to take thoroughgoing measures of agricultural technique to prevent damage by low temperature and blight, the most knotty problem in potato farming in northern alpine area.

He said that the agronomists and persons in charge of plots should enhance their responsibility and role so as to intensify prediction and forecast of potato blight and that a strict step should be taken to secure agricultural chemicals and intensively spray them upon potato plants in sickness.

He stressed the need to direct efforts to stockbreeding to establish the food production cycle of agriculture and animal husbandry, increase the fertility of soil of potato fields and conduct in a scientific and technical way the manuring and cultivation of potato fields including weeding, earthing up, fertilizing and extermination of harmful insects.

Looking round farm machines and tractors of the workteam, he acquainted himself with how many tractors it has and how it operates them.

Saying what he wanted to know with utmost care is the proportion and level of mechanization of potato farming, he noted that the level of the comprehensive mechanization of the farm should be raised decisively. He pointed out that the agricultural sector sets a good example for mechanization with the farm machines secured more than 20 years ago. Comprehensive mechanization should be realized with modern and efficient farm machines in line with the requirements of changing and developing reality and farm officials should add to their knowledge to know well the global trend of the development of farm machines and boldly set aim high, he added.

He said that if they take into account how many and what kinds of farm machines are needed to do all of the farm work with the help of machines without hesitation and inform the Party of it, it will work hard to carry it into reality and that it is the Party's firm determination to first build the farm into an exemplary unit for modernization of farm machines and, on this basis, turn Samjiyon County and farms in the county into the standard unit of our country whose comprehensive mechanization is realized perfectly on a high level and a farm of comprehensive mechanization where farmers' ideal has come true.

Then he went to a storehouse of seed potatoes.

Appreciating the introduction of the automatic control system of environment which makes it possible to put the store of seed potatoes on a scientific basis by automatically measuring and controlling temperature, humidity and concentration of carbonic acid gas in the storehouse, he underlined the need to increase the capacity by properly estimating the quantity of seeds to meet the increased potato fields.

Now that seed is essential for potato farming it is necessary to establish an integral system of producing and keeping seed potatoes and put seed selection on a scientific and technical basis, he said.

It is necessary to breed and introduce Potato species high in per-hectare potato yield and to select and introduce species of potato fit for food as the Potato Farina Production Factory has been built, he said, adding: All the farms should not plant some species of high yield, thinking only of productivity, but introduce various species good to taste and ensure the quality of processed potato foods in production and thus raise the quality of potato production.

Going round the farm, he set forth the plan and direction for sprucing up the seat village in Junghung-ri, Samjiyon County.

He underscored the need to first remodel the units associated with leadership exploits of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il such as the Junghung Farm visited by them several times and then, on the basis of the experience, gradually change all the farms in the county, noting that the county shouldn't cling to only the remodeling of the township but propel it with the work to remodel the farm villages on a full scale.

He said that the Party would actively help build the Junghung Farm into a standard unit of village development, and gave an instruction on properly estimating and reporting the necessary materials and labor.

This meaningful year seeing the lapse of 20 years since the Party advanced the policy of bringing about a radical turn in potato farming, we have to realize the wishes of Kim Jong Il, who was anxious about the issue of potato farming in Ryanggang Province, by producing a high yield of potato in the native land of Kim Jong Il, he said.

Accompanying him were Hwang Pyong So, Jo Yong Won and Kim Yong Su, senior officials of the C.C., WPK.