Reference Date: 25-November-2025

Favourable start of 2025/26 winter season

Planting of the 2025/26 minor winter cereal crops, mainly wheat and barley, is underway and is expected to finalize soon at the end November. Adequate soil moisture conditions following above‑average precipitation amounts in September 2025 benefited planting operations and ensured satisfactory germination of crops, which are expected to enter dormancy from December onwards. Planting of the 2025/26 spring wheat, barley and potatoes is expected to begin next March. Although winter and spring cereal crops are only 10 percent of the total annual crop production, they serve as an important source of food during the May‑August lean period, ahead of the start of the main season harvest in September.

Favourable weather conditions benefitted the 2025 main season food crops

Harvesting of the 2025 main food crops, which account for about 90 percent of total annual production and consist mostly of rice and maize, plus small quantities of soybeans, potatoes, millet and sorghum, finalized at the end of October. Seasonal rains began on time in mid‑April 2025 and precipitation amounts from early May to mid‑August were average to above average and well distributed, favouring planting operations and crop development. In the second half of August, precipitation amounts were well above the average in western parts of the country, including the main cereal producing provinces of North and South Pyongan as well as North Hwanghae. Temporary flooding occurred in localized low‑lying areas, but no impact on crops has been reported. Remote sensing data, as of late August 2025, just before the start of the main harvest, indicated good vegetation conditions across most of the country, inferring to generally favourable yields and production prospects (see ASI map). However, in September and early October precipitation amounts were above‑average in some southern main producing provinces which may have hampered harvesting operations and raised concerns about crop quality and potential post‑harvest losses. Harvesting of the 2024/25 minor winter and spring cereal crops, mainly wheat and barley was completed last June and weather conditions during the cropping season were generally favourable.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .