The newly completed Sinuiju Comprehensive Greenhouse Farm is struggling with operational problems stemming from shortages of essential farming materials, seeds and skilled facility-agriculture personnel, according to a source in North Pyongan province recently.
The greenhouse farm was built on a large scale and heavily promoted by state media, but a series of problems has surfaced once operations began, the source told Daily NK. The complex lacks sufficient fertilizer and pesticides, and even the vegetable seeds needed for planting, forcing trade organizations to purchase supplies from Chinese markets. But tight funding makes that approach difficult to sustain, the source said.
The farm is also struggling to secure specialists with the management knowledge needed to run a modern greenhouse operation, spanning production organization, facility maintenance and distribution, according to the source.
Facility agriculture does not succeed simply because a greenhouse building has been constructed. Because crops are grown intensively in limited space, farms need precise control over nutrient supply tailored to each growth stage, pest and disease management, and temperature, humidity and ventilation. North Korea’s facility agriculture sector currently operates in an environment shaped by restricted external exchange, sanctions and economic hardship, all of which make it difficult to reliably secure fertilizer, pesticides and quality seeds. Under these conditions, even a large-scale greenhouse complex is likely to run into problems from the earliest stages of operation.
A deeper problem: lack of skilled workers
A bigger issue is the shortage of skilled personnel. North Korea’s agricultural sector has long relied on manual labor and traditional, compost-based farming methods. Modern facility agriculture, by contrast, combines multiple technologies, including hydroponic cultivation, nutrient solution management, automated ventilation, and temperature, humidity and pest monitoring. Operating such systems reliably requires more than short-term training. It requires managers and technicians with field experience, along with administrators who can coordinate production planning and distribution.
According to the source, much of the staff managing large greenhouse farms consists of discharged soldiers, former Youth Shock Brigade members and ordinary people mobilized from nearby areas, most without adequate agricultural training. The Youth Shock Brigade is a state labor corps that mobilizes young North Koreans for major construction and infrastructure projects. As a result, the farm has faced problems stemming from a lack of field expertise, including failures in temperature control, errors in nutrient mixing and inadequate pest monitoring, which the source said can lead to mass crop die-offs or reduced yields.
Training enough skilled personnel to properly operate a high-tech greenhouse takes time. Running a large greenhouse complex through short-term mobilization, without adequate education and hands-on practice, has clear limits.
North Korean authorities should not treat facility agriculture as simply a construction achievement. The funding, seed, fertilizer and pesticide shortages now emerging, along with the lack of skilled personnel, are not just temporary growing pains. They reflect structural limitations built up over years of border controls, restricted external exchange, limited autonomy for farms, and a policy approach centered on mobilization-based construction.
Facility agriculture is an intensive form of infrastructure. It requires electricity, materials, seeds, technology, distribution networks, and autonomy for farms and farmers to work together. Without these conditions, simply building large greenhouses is unlikely to produce stable output. The case of the Sinuiju Comprehensive Greenhouse Farm shows that North Korea’s agricultural policy needs to move beyond showcasing construction achievements and toward building operational capacity, field-level autonomy and skilled personnel.
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
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July 13, 2026 at 10:49PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)