North Korea's official newspaper on Tuesday called for all-out efforts to promptly finish planting rice within the optimal period at all costs amid concerns unexpected rainfall could hamper rice planting.

Ri Jae-hyon, department director at the North's agriculture ministry, made the appeal in a contributory piece carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party.

"Rice planting may not go as planned due to unfavorable farming conditions," Ri said, urging officials to mobilize people to help with ongoing efforts.

In another article, the paper pointed out that heavy downpours during the spring season have delayed the rice-planting process.

It also stressed the need to draft a farming schedule for different seedlings based on their characteristics considering the disaster-prone climate and to use all means to finish planting them within the optimal season.

North Korea is known for chronic food shortages and the scarcity appears to be getting worse due to the fallout of last year's flooding and the prolonged border controls put in place to ward off the global coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs earlier estimated that the North could be faced with a food shortage of around 1 million tons this year. (Yonhap)