North Korea will likely see a plunge in its production of corn this year due to drought and a lack of fertilizer.

The head of the Seoul-based International Corn Foundation predicted that the North will produce less than one-point-five million tons of corn this year, down one million tons from last year.

Kim Soon-kwon made the prediction after returning from a visit to the North’s Pyongyang and North Pyongan Province last week.

Kim said the drop is a result of insufficient fertilizer, droughts in July and heavy rains in the months that followed.

He added that decreased corn production will seriously aggravate the food shortage problem in North Korea, since corn is a staple crop of the communist country.