Myanmar is pushing some projects for agricultural development and planning to set up a special agricultural zone in Dagon Myothit, one of the several satellite towns in Yangon division.
Private companies are being encouraged by the government to take part in the regional project, according to Sunday's newspaper New Light of Myanmar.
At a coordinating meeting here on Saturday, Prime Minister General Thein Sein said that "Despite a lot of arable land and manpower (in the country), the yield of paddy is not as good as it should be because of farmlands with different type of soil, growing of conventional paddy strains and lesser use of fertilizer." There are 20 million acres (8.1 million hectares) of monsoon and summer paddy in the country, according to the report.
"If systematic measures are to be taken by using high yield strains and modern farm machinery, the paddy yield will increase thereby contributing to the development of agricultural sector," Thein Sein said.
The prime minister stressed the need for cooperation between local farmers and private entrepreneurs to set up such cultivation areas as a special agricultural zone in the satellite town.
Meanwhile, Myanmar is making arrangements to introduce a contract farming project in the division, and so far, 10 private entrepreneurs have joined the project, the Biweekly Eleven quoted the Rice Producers Association as saying.
Foreign technical know how relating agricultural production will be obtained through the farming system, the rice producers said.
Under the plan, the country's biggest business organization -- the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) has taken some steps to ensure sufficient rice supply at home by initiating inter-agreements with rice traders.
The rice traders, who signed the agreements with the UMFCCI on the normal rice supply within the country, were from Yangon, Mandalay and Magway divisions and Kachin state.
The agreement would also help block smuggling of rice to border areas, merchants said.
According to official statistics, in the fiscal year of 2007-08which ended in March, Myanmar grew 8.1 million hectares of paddy, producing 30.02 million tons of rice.
Myanmar has planned to expand cultivation of paddy in the present fiscal year of 2008-09, projecting to grow 8.26 million hectares in the year to yield 31.59 million tons of rice to meet the demand of a population of 56.5 million.
The country's per capita rice consumption stands 510 kilograms (kg) per year which are for rural people, while 408 kg for urban people. The annual consumption of rice by the entire country people reached over 17 million tons.
Its agricultural exports amounted to 1.14 billion U.S. dollars in 2007-08, rising by 22.5 percent from 2006-07.
The country's foreign trade volume in the 2007-08 totaled 8.851billion dollars, of which the exports took 6.043 billion dollars with agricultural produces contributing 18.8 percent of the total.
In 2006-07, Myanmar exported over 930 million dollars of agricultural produces mostly to neighboring China and India.
Myanmar's principal crops are paddy, beans and pulses, oil crops, cotton, sugarcane and culinary crops.
With over 70 percent of Myanmar's population being engaged in agricultural undertakings, the sector represents the mainstay of the country's economy, contributing 50.1 percent to the national economy and achieving an average annual growth rate of 9.8 percent during the past five years, statistics reveal.
Source: Xinhua
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