Sh*tty Situation: Pyongyang Urging North Koreans to Produce Manure From Their Own Feces, Report Says

The country is reportedly attempting to create an "atmosphere of competition" among citizens to produce more homemade manure for farm fields.

North Korea is urging its citizens to use their own excrement to make manure in a bid to remedy a shortage of fertiliser from China, the online newspaper Daily NK has reported.

A source in Yanggang Province told the outlet that the Central Committee has ordered that markets in the province shorten their operating time by an hour: instead of working from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., they will be working from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., so the people have one additional hour to fulfill their manure quota. Only those who produce enough are allowed to enter the markets, the report alleged.

Farmers spray fertiliser on cabbage crops which will be harvested early next month and used mainly to make Kimchi at the Chilgol vegetable farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Oct. 24, 2014

© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E

According to Daily NK, factories and enterprises have been ordered to provide 500 kilos of manure per person, while family units must provide 200 kilos per household between 3 December to 10 January. Those numbers are much higher than last year, and those failing the task must pay for each missing kilo.

In addition, reports suggested that farmers were requested to donate their urine to be mixed into the compost.

To bring some competition into the equation, the party reportedly told directors, the heads of neighbourhood offices, and other officials, who were tasked with meeting the quota, that units falling behind the plan will face a "thorough review".

The bizarre requests from the North Korean authorities are aimed at producing more food because in June 2021, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared that there was a "tense" food crisis.