PYONGYANG, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong-Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has called for scientific farming to increase crop production to solve a current food shortage problem, official news agency KCNA reported on Saturday.

    Kim made the remarks while visiting a newly built power station and a new cooperative farm. He said the shortcut to satisfactorily settling the food shortage was to thoroughly implement the "double cropping" program. He called for "further developing double cropping to suit the topographical features" of the countryside.

    Kim also stressed it was necessary to "ceaselessly increase the production of organic composite fertilizer to steadily improve the fertility of soil".