Floods ravage 530,000 farmlands
Play
Torrential rains have inundated about 530,000 farmlands across Myanmar, according to data with the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.
There were serious floods in Ayeyawady, Bago and Yangon regions, as well as the Mon and Kayin states of lower Myanmar, and northern Shan State. Out of 528,000 inundated farmlands, a total of 56,767 cultivated acres were destroyed.
Heavy rains and floods occurred in 55 townships across the country.
Some areas remain inundated even 15 days later while in some regions have been under water for 20 to 30 days.
The farmers said that as the durability of paddy plants under water is about 15 days, they will have to sow paddy seeds again on the submerged paddy fields.
The ministry is making plans to provide 387,633 baskets of paddy seeds to these farmers as it is expected the number destroyed farmlands will increase to 119,000 acres.
The required paddy seeds for each acre are between two and a half to three baskets.
Some farmers in the flooded areas are worried that they would not be able to grow paddy again if the flood waters do recede within one month.
Myanmar exported 3.323 million tonnes of rice in the first four months (April-July) of the fiscal year 2012-13 to China and Thailand as well as the Philippines and Indonesia through border trade, according to sources.
About 800,500 tonnes of rice in 2011-12, and 75 per cent of this agricultural produce were sold to Africa, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.
About 20 million acres (8.1 million hectares) are used for paddy cultivation – 17 million acres for monsoon cultivation and 3 million acres for summer cultivation.
The country produces about 1,300 baskets (27,170 kilograms) of paddy every year, which is equivalent to about 13 to 14 tonnes of milled rice, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
