Substantial increases in land productivity were achieved through strict enforcement of the adoption of high-yield crop varieties, subsidised fertiliser and pesticide programmes, and collection and distribution systems run by the government. In order to rebuild agriculture, the Saemaul Undong was first initiated from 1971 to 1973, under the strong leadership of the central government. At the beginning, 6 000 rural villages participated, increasing to 34 665 villages in 1973.