S.Korea to help

S.Korea to help N.Korea in farming

SEOUL: South Korea has agreed to work on joint farming ventures with food-starved North Korea and to provide these farms with fertilizer and other items to boost productivity, officials said on Saturday.

The agreement was reached at two days of landmark talks that wrapped up late Friday in the North's Kaesong City pledging to pursue inter-Korean agricultural cooperation in a "stable and steady" manner.

North Korea's socialist cooperative farms have been unable to meet the food needs of the nation, which has been relying on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people since 1995.

"The North and South will select cooperative farms in certain areas and... execute joint projects there. These projects will be expanded into other areas, depending on their results," the agreement said.

And starting next year, the South would provide these farms with facilities to raise saplings and other materials including fertilizer, pesticide, machinery and animal feed as well as technical assistance. -- AFP