rograms of land reclamation and melioration have been executed. At the
same time, heavy stress has been laid on the improvement of farm
techniques and on mechanization as means for increasing yields and
production. A planned expansion of livestock herds and of the output of
livestock products has been hampered by inadequate incentives for
peasants and by a shortage of fodder. The agricultural potential is
limited by the predominance of rugged mountain terrain and by frequent
spring droughts that cause extensive damage to crops. To minimize the
adverse effects of the droughts, an extensive irrigation system is being
developed.

In 1967 the area of land in agricultural use, excluding forests, roads,
and homesites, amounted to about 3.0 million acres, or 43 percent of the
country's total area. More than half of the agricultural land was in
unimproved natural pastures, with an additional small acreage in natural
meadows. Cultivated land bearing field and tree crops totaled about 1.4
million acres, of which about 1.1 million acres were arable land,
equivalent to about two-thirds of an acre per capita. Almost half of the
cultivated land was located in hilly and mountainous zones, which are
less productive than the coastal plains. The agricultural acreage was
expanded by 3 percent between 1950 and 1967, but a significant further
expansion is precluded by the country's rugged terrain.

A high priority has been placed by the leadership on expanding the
cultivated area and raising its productivity through land reclamation,
soil improvement, and irrigation. Most of this work has been
accomplished manually, through mobilization of large numbers of people
for massive projects and with the participation by members of the armed
forces. Between 1950 and 1969 the area of cultivated land rose by almost
one-half to a total of more than 1.4 million acres, at least 185,000
acres of which have been reclaimed since 1965. The bulk of the increase
in cultivated land was achieved at the expense of natural pastures and
meadows, the area of which has declined by about 265,000 and 50,000
acres, respectively, since 1950. About 70 percent of the increase in
cultivated land was added to arable acreage.

By the end of 1969, however, the reclamation work had fallen behind the
five-year plan schedule. In early 1970 the government therefore took
special measures to ensure that the entire 285,000-acre reclamation
program would be completed as planned, br