Ayeyawady, Bago and Yangon regions have been considered the leading rice-producing areas in Myanmar before the year 2000 and then, Sagaing Region emerged as a rice bowl over a decade.
At present, Sagaing Region became one of the rice bowls, with a supply of about 60,000 rice bags per month beyond self-sufficiency. It helps strengthen the rice supply chain.
There was an inflow of approximately 15,000 bags of rice to Yangon and 29,000 bags to Mandalay market in mid-July from Sagaing Region. About 15,000 bags of rice were sent to Nay Pyi Taw, Magway Region and northern and southern Shan State from Sagaing Region as well.
Earlier, the lower regions had to supply rice to Sagaing Region. Thanks to the irrigation system, the region itself can supply rice to other regions now.
Agriculture is the backbone of the economy. There are 17 million acres of monsoon and summer paddy fields in the country.
Furthermore, Magway and Taninthayi regions are the main suppliers of edible oil crops. Thaphanseik Dam’s irrigation network covers 400,000 acres of monsoon paddy and 300,000 acres of summer paddy. The dam provided irrigation water supply since 2001.
Before 2015, rice from Rakhine State flowed into Yangon’s market through the Pyay area. The supply from Rakhine State has become extremely low in a couple of years, said a rice trader engaged in Bayintnaung Commodity Wholesale Centre.
The Ayeyawady Delta regions and western Bago area primarily supply rice to the Yangon market for local consumption and foreign markets. There is an influx of about 100,000 rice bags per day to Wahdan and Bayintnaung Wholesale centres utilizing road and sea transport, the Global New Light of Myanmar quoted a rice trader as saying.
Myanmar shipped 3.58 million tonnes of rice to foreign markets in the 2017-2018 financial year and over two million tonnes in the 2022-2023 FY. The country aims to achieve a rice export target of 2 million tonnes for the current FY as well.
Rice export is estimated at 100,000 tonnes per month in the post-harvest season of monsoon paddy this year. The high-grade Pawsan from Shwebo, Sagaing Region, is worth over K100,000 per bag and Shwebo paddy is valued at around K2.9 million per 100 baskets in mid-July 2023.
Shwebo Pawsan’s rice price was volatile in H2 last year. About hundreds of rice bags were reportedly stockpiled at Wahdan depot and there were stocks of 100,000 rice bags in the regions then.
The real-time market reports with price updates from the Sagaing Region help identify fake rumours in the market for the price hike, a market observer pointed out. — TWA/EM
