Myanmar's rice exports can still recover although more than 60,000 acres have been destroyed by the flood: General Secretary of Myanmar Rice Federation

“Their paddy yields will be a bit lower, but exports won’t suffer much as a result,” he said. “And the state will have to help farmers with new laws passed which protect farmers.”

“We can’t help them now because the flooding is still taking place, but we will act according to the situation when the floodwater subsides.”

Heavy rainfall since mid-July has caused flooding particularly in parts of Sagaing Region, Shan State and Kachin State. U Ye Min Aung said this has flooded out tens of thousands of acres of paddy field.

Fortunate for the affected farmers, the rice harvest generally occurs later in the year in Upper Myanmar than it does in the delta.

U Myo Myint, a prominent farmer based in Sagaing Region, said there is still time to replant this year.

“There’s still time to plant again. This can be done until the start of September,” he said.

A larger concern is the need to purchase more fertiliser and paddy, which will hit the pocketbooks of farmers. Fields that had not been harvested from the smaller summer crop could also be damaged.

A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation said that as of July 19, 2453 acres of summer paddy fields, 36,689 acres of monsoon paddy fields and more than 3100 acres of seedling fields have been flooded. These figures were released earlier in the month.

Some looked at the bright side. “We can say it is a good point that there are not many flooded fields in lower Myanmar, where they always flood every year,” he said.

Myanmar Rice Traders Association vice chair U Aung Than Oo said that with the large quantity of rice fields that are flooded each year, it is necessary to start crop insurance.

“Paddy fields in some townships in Bago and Ayeyarwady regions flood each year,” he said. “There should be comprehensive crop insurance plans in these regions’ farmland, as well as Rakhine State, when the weather is rough, organised by the government.”

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