It seems that an increasing number of North Koreans is interested in the cultivation of bananas and other fruits and vegetables typically grown in tropical or subtropical climates.
According to Daily NK, Interest in banana farming among North Koreans began when a “grade one” factory in South Pyongyang Province started to distribute bananas it had cultivated to the factory’s daycare center and preschool.
A representative from a local collective farm along with officials from the Academy of Agricultural Science in Pyongyang reportedly visited the factory recently to ask about its banana cultivation methods. The source said that an increasing number of people in Pyongsong and Pyongyang are trying to learn about how to grow the fruit.
Despite all this, dailynk.com explains that North Korea would still need a considerable amount of time to broaden the cultivation of bananas and other tropical or subtropical fruits. Bananas must be kept in temperatures of at least 15o Celsius or above. Even in South Korea’s Jeju Island, which has a subtropical climate, farmers are forced to pay enormous amounts of money to ensure their bananas stay fresh.