(Reuters) - MILAN, Aug 8 (Reuters) ? North Korea, hit by strong floods this summer, is facing localized crop damage in its main cereal producing regions, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.
The floods have damaged 59,340 hectares of cropland nationwide, or about five percent of the total area under cereal crops, the FAO said in a statement citing initial estimates from the National Coordinating Committee.
Damage to agricultural infrastructure was also reported, it said.
"Although no precise crop damage estimates are yet available, the paddy crop, currently at the initial growing stage, is likely to be affected the most in the low lying areas," the agency said.
However, in surrounding areas, the abundant rains are likely to benefit the growing crops, it added.
North Korean state media have said heavy rains and a tropical storm left widespread damage in the country's central region in June and July, leaving more than 8,000 people homeless and adding to the country's already chronic food shortage.
South Korea said last Wednesday it had offered aid worth 5 billion won ($4.8 million) to North Korea to help its destitute neighbor recover from summer floods, signaling a continued thaw in tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea is facing a cereals deficit of over one million tons, or about a quarter of its annual requirements, for the 2010/11 marketing year (Nov/Oct), according to the U.N.'s food security assessment issued in March.
"So far both, food aid and commercial imports, have been very slow in materializing, the FAO said.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova; editing by Keiron Henderson)
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