Mizzima

The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) said that country had no concerns over food security as they had enough rice stocks in hand despite about 5,000 acres of rice farmlands damaged by flood water.

Myanmar experienced heavy rainfall across the country caused by the remnants of Typhoon Yagi resulting in flooding in some areas. Rice mills and warehouses were also flooded and nearly 5,000 acres of rice fields were reportedly damaged by floods.

The Junta announced that over 750,000 acres of farmland across the country were flooded and damaged by Typhoon Yagi.

Moreover, in July this year at least 20 townships were flooded and over 100,000 acres of farmlands were damaged by flood water. The crops, including rice, were regrown on these damaged farmlands.

The MRF said they have about four million tonnes of rice stock in their hand and no need to worry about rice shortage caused by floods.

On the other hand, the Junta restricted the domestic rice market by various means to control the price. Rice traders said the Junta exported over 200,000 tonnes of rice in August while the rice price rose to over 100,000 Kyats per bag (approx. 50 Kg) of superior quality rice in the domestic market.

Traders said this was the largest trade volume in the last five months since April this year. The trade data collected by the MRF shows they earned US$ 97 million from this export.

Published Date: September 27, 2024