Regime says it will provide free or low-cost rice seeds in storm-ravaged parts of Arakan State

By Admin 06 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
6 June 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime will provide rice seeds for local farmers affected by Cyclone Mocha in Arakan State, according to the Arakan State Agriculture Department.

The regime is planning to provide rice seeds for free or sell them at low prices for farmers ahead of the monsoon paddy cultivation season.

“We still can’t confirm if rice seeds will be provided for free or sold at low prices,” said U Tun Myint, a staff officer of the Arakan State Agriculture Department.

Rice seeds and rice stored by local farmers were damaged when Cyclone Mocha hit Arakan State on May 14. Many cattle, crucial for farming, were also killed by the cyclone.

Farmers have tried in vain to sun-dry their waterlogged rice seeds.

“We farmers will have nothing to eat if we don’t work on farms. But we have no rice seeds and oxen to grow paddy now. I want to give up growing paddy now,” said Daw Aye Hmone from Donepike Village in Rathedaung Township.

Farming is the primary source of livelihood for some 75 percent of rural people in Arakan State.

U Soe Naing from Kyiyarpyin Village in Mrauk-U Townshi[ said: “Rice I have stored for consumption got wet in the storm. Rice seeds also got wet, and I can’t grow them now. I am gathering as many rice seeds as possible. If I can’t grow paddy in this rainy season, I will starve next year.”

Paddy production declined by around 50 percent last year compared with previous years due to low rainfall and increased prices for fertiliser and pesticides.

Cyclone Mocha came as another blow to local farmers in Arakan State who were already struggling with soaring costs of living. The Arakan Farmers’ Union has urged authorities to provide assistance to the agriculture industry in Arakan State.

“There are a lot of difficulties and challenges for farmers to recover. They still can’t go back to their farms while they are struggling not to starve [in the aftermath of the storm]. We will serve as an intermediary between farmers and the government [Myanmar’s military regime],” said U Myo Min Aung, chairman of the Arakan Farmers’ Union.

DMG’s calls to Arakan State Administration Council spokesman U Hla Thein to ask about the regime’s plan to supply rice seeds to local farmers in Arakan State went unanswered.

More than 70,000 baskets of rice seeds were reportedly destroyed and a total of 11,799 cattle were killed by Cyclone Mocha in Arakan State’s Sittwe, Rathedaung, Maungdaw, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Pauktaw townships.