Local farmers and farmers unions in Rakhine State forecast a 50 percent decline in the monsoon rice harvest this year due to escalating armed conflict and shortages of agricultural materials such as fertilizer and fuel.
Fighting has been raging in Rakhine State for seven months since the Arakan Army (AA) launched an offensive against the regime in November. Rakhine State has around 850,000 acres of farmland, most of which is in northern Rakhine, the conflict’s hotspot.
The AA has seized almost all of northern Rakhine State.
Meanwhile, the regime has blockaded roads and waterways since November, resulting in price hikes and shortages of various consumer goods including diesel and fertilizer.
U Kyaw Zan, chairman of the Rakhine State Farmers Union, told The Irrawaddy: “Production may decline by half this year, mainly because of the fighting, and we have to use machinery for farming as we have no cattle. Diesel prices are prohibitive. And we don’t have fertilizer. We will hardly be able to grow 500,000 acres this year.”
Weather also plays a part in agriculture in coastal Rakhine, which is prone to storms and heavy rain, noted U Kyaw Zan. He said food security for the state’s 3 million people could be undermined further if the crop is hit by bad weather.
Farmer U Tun Thar from Taung-U village in Mrauk-U Township said: “I am confused, and I haven’t prepared anything. I need to buy seeds and fix my tractor. But it isn’t easy to buy spare parts to fix my tractor as prices have increased by almost 10 times.”
Monsoon paddy is normally grown across the country in June with rainwater from the wet season. Unlike other parts of the country, Rakhine State grows rice mainly in the wet season, foregoing the dams used to grow paddy in other seasons.
Farmer Ko Hla Myint from Thazi village in Kyauktaw Township: “It is a nightmare for us to grow paddy this year. We are struggling even to buy diesel and fertilizer. But what are we supposed to eat if we don’t grow rice? If we can’t afford fuel, we might need to plow farms with cattle.”
Diesel prices have jumped from 12,000 kyats last year to 40,000 kyats (around US$ 9) this year. Fertilizer prices have tripled from 100,000 kyats to 300,000 kyats per sack, said farmers. Normally, the state-owned agricultural bank provides farmers with agricultural loans to grow rice in the rainy season.
U Kyaw Zan said: “Though fighting has died down in northern Rakhine except for occasional air raids, we still can’t start growing paddy as prices of fuel are exorbitant and it is not easy to find. Fighting is still taking place in southern Rakhine, and farmers there also have little access to agricultural raw materials. So, production will decline there too. The main problem is agricultural materials.”
The AA has seized control of townships across four of Rakhine State’s five districts: Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung in Sittwe District; Ramree in Kyaukphyu District; Buthidaung in Maungdaw; and Kyauktaw, Minbya, Myebon and Mrauk-U in Mrauk-U. It has also seized Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State.
Meanwhile, the regime is now losing ground in fighting in Maungdaw and Thandwe townships.
The AA, which enjoys popular support among Rakhine’s ethnic Arakanese population, has been registering farmland in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myebon and Pauktaw townships, said residents. However, it has yet to explain how it plans to help local farmers, they added.
AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha said the ethnic army was working hard to help rice farmers and avoid food insecurity.
“There won’t be rice shortages in Rakhine. We are doing what we can. We will arrange fuel and help farmers to grow their crops in time. There are a lot of requirements,” he said.
Politician U Pe Than from Rakhine State said: “Farmers can’t cultivate all their land due to junta restrictions. They can’t afford agricultural materials. So, the acreage sown will decline and the yield will, too. We may suffer food insecurity.”
Rakhine has over one million acres of farmland that normally produces 70 million baskets of rice, or about 1.6 million tonnes, per year. However, cultivatable land has shrunk to 850,000 acres and production to less than 40 million baskets, according to a recent survey by the Rakhine State Farmers Union.
Normally, the state-owned agricultural bank provides farmers with loans to grow rice in the rainy season. However, the conflict raging in Rakhine means most farmers don’t have access to the loans.
