About 50% of paddy goes unharvested in conflict-torn Arakan State

By Admin 02 Jan 2024

DMG Newsroom
2 January 2024, Sittwe

Farmers in Arakan State are only able to harvest about 50 percent of their paddy fields due to the latest fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA), according to the Arakan Farmers’ Union.

Farmers in Arakan State are reportedly having difficulty harvesting the remaining 50 percent of paddy fields due to fuel shortages and renewed hostilities. If ripe paddy is not harvested in time, the paddy will go to waste.

“In this situation, it will not be easy to get paddy seeds for the next year, and domestic food security may become a problem,” said U Kyaw Zan, chairman of the Arakan Farmers’ Union.

“Farmers in my village were able to harvest a few acres of paddy. Some ripe paddy fields along the riverbank are yet to be harvested. Farmers dare not harvest paddy as the Myanmar Navy vessels open fire into the paddy fields,” said a local farmer in Manawthiri Village, Pauktaw Township.

Farmers in several villages such as Manawthiri, Taungphue, Taungnyo, Thayet, Kyaukseik, Kyeinkhamaw, Tatmaw, Darkaing, Tharyway, Mawhtokegyi and Thawinchaung are able to harvest a only a fraction of their paddy acreage due to ongoing fighting in Pauktaw since November 16.

Farmers in Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myebon and Ann townships are reluctant to harvest their paddy due to the regime’s indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes.

“We are harvesting paddy amid all kinds of difficulties just to collect food for us. We don’t expect paddy seeds. It will not be easy for us to grow paddy next year,” said a local farmer in Yeyoepyin Village, Ponnagyun Township.

It has been nearly two months since the regime blockaded roads and waterways in Arakan State amid heavy fighting, and local people are facing food shortages.

About 75 percent of the rural populations in Arakan State make their living mainly from agriculture or fishing. Many rural people are unable to do these activities due to the junta’s travel restrictions.