Burmese farmers in trouble again

DVB ( 15 December 2003 )

Despite the promise of the military junta of Burma’s promise not to force rice farmers to sell rice to the government, both Burmese rice merchants and farmers are facing difficulties due to the junta’s tampering with rice price.

The junta, the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) has ordered local rice farmers and merchants in Irrawaddy Division, the rice bowl of Burma to halve the price of rice.

As rice merchants are unwilling to sell rice to the junta, they are stopping their business by not buying rice from farmers. The farmers are likely to face losses with the designated price as the yield of rice is only 50 ‘tins’ (bags) per acre on average each year.

In Pegu Division, farmers are still resisting to sell rice to the regime and the government is still unable to force the price on them. Rice farmers in Mon State are also unwilling to sell their produce to rice merchants because of the lowered price and the merchants are making no effort to buy rice from farmers.

Rice merchants are saying that the farmers are likely to face losses because the yield of rice is reduced to 50% this year at 20-25 ‘tins’ per acre.