High temperatures, irregular rainfall and floods resulting from the El Nino weather phenomenon have delivered another blow to farmers in central Myanmar who are already bearing the brunt of armed conflict, junta raids and arson attacks.
Persistent rain in northern Kachin State in the last week of July swelled the Irrawaddy River, resulting in floods in Myitkyina and Bhamo in Kachin as well as Pakokku, Nyaung-U, Chauk, Aunglan and Pyay townships downriver.
Floods were also reported in Tanintharyi Region, Karen State, and the Sittoung and Salween river basins throughout July.
While farmers from villages along the Irrawaddy lost their crops to floods, their peers in central Myanmar suffered from drought.
Villages in western Pakokku in Magwe Region grow thousands of acres of beans and other pulses, corn and sesame. But the crops are dying because there is still no rain, locals say.
Farmer Ma Nu from Thayetkan village in Pakokku said: “This is the worst drought of my life. Groundnut, black gram and mung bean plants have withered.”
The regime has also torched many villages in central Myanmar and looted or destroyed property including crops and cattle. Farmers flee their villages when junta troops come and return when they leave, now risking life and limb because the regime has planted landmines in their fields.
The cost of growing crops has also increased significantly. Before the 2021 coup, it cost around 500,000 kyats including fertilizer to grow an acre of peanuts, but the cost has almost doubled since. Many farmers can only leave their land fallow, while some lease it out to smallholders on a crop-sharing basis.
Farmers in central Myanmar were expecting rain in July to grow pulses, but it is September now and there is still no rain.
Normally, central Myanmar experiences drought every three years, but local farmers say they have never seen anything this bad.
The fault line runs right through Pakokku: while villages in the west are suffering from drought, Yesagyo town in the east of Pakokku suffered from floods.
In July, floods destroyed crop fields in southern Myaung Township in Sagaing Region, where the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers converge, as well as pulse farms in Yay Lel Kyun in Magwe Region’s Yesagyo Township.
Farmer U Poe Tun from Yayshar village in Yay Lel Kyun said: “I grew five acres of black gram and mung beans, and around one acre was flooded. The rainfall is definitely higher this year.”
His financial loss was around 1.2 million kyats in unrealized profits, which means a tight budget for the next growing season.
Around 100 acres of farms in more than 50 villages in Yay Lel Kyun were destroyed by floods. Some farmers had already harvested by the time the floods hit their villages, and the harvested crops were swept away when their houses flooded.
To make matters worse, farmers in Yayshar and nearby villages lost their cattle to post-flood disease.
Under the ousted National League for Democracy government, farmers received 200,000 kyats per acre in agricultural loans from the government ahead of the cultivation season. They were also given free seeds when their farms were destroyed by floods. But since the 2021 coup all that has stopped, and they have to flee when junta soldiers raid their villages.
Only some villages close to Pakokku town receive cash assistance from civil society organizations. The Irrawaddy’s phone calls to Pakokku Township’s agriculture department went unanswered.
The World Meteorological Organization in November last year predicted that Myanmar would be affected by El Nino in early 2024 and La Nina in the late monsoon.
Environmentalist U Win Myo Thu told The Irrawaddy that environmental degradation is one of the contributing factors of climate change in Myanmar. The civil war has significantly weakened the environmental conservation efforts of relevant departments and civil society organizations.
“You might notice higher temperatures in the hot season,” he said. “There were floods in July, and the country is also set to face La Nina this year. Natural disasters are likely, so farmers have to stay alert.”
Myanmar people can only brace themselves for natural disasters as the country lacks funds and technology, and the capability of organizations to respond to disasters has declined, he said.
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar reported in mid-August that nearly 400,000 people were affected by floods in Myanmar since the end of June, exacerbating the already severe humanitarian situation.
Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed by floods across the country, according to sources.
Price hikes and shortages of agricultural input like fertilizer and fuel have also affected the country’s agriculture industry.
The World Bank’s June report predicts that inflation and unemployment will remain high in Myanmar while poverty has become entrenched across the country. Myanmar is now estimated to have 7 million more people living in poverty than immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it added.
Farmer Ma Nu said: “Farming in our village is vulnerable to weather and the military. In some cases we couldn’t harvest in time due to junta raids. When we work on our farms, we fear that we might step on mines or be hit by artillery strikes. I hope we can get this situation over as quickly as possible.”
