IRIN
MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers switch to fishing
18 August 2008


MAWLAMYINEGYUN, 18 August 2008 (IRIN) - Under normal circumstances 
45-year-old farmer Maung Win would be busy with his paddy fields at this 
time of year.

"This year, I'm going in for fishing," he told IRIN in a village outside 
Mawlamyinegyun township, deep inside Myanmar's cyclone-affected 
Ayeyarwaddy Delta.

Since Cyclone Nargis struck the area on 2-3 May, leaving almost 140,000 
people dead or missing, and affecting another 2.4 million, farming has 
proven virtually impossible.

But Maung Win has some strong reasons for making the switch.

In the aftermath of Nargis, it was unclear what kind of harvest there 
might be and how he was going to feed his family.

If he wanted to plant this year's paddy crop, he would be obliged to go 
into debt to secure the farming tools and seeds he needed - a fact 
prompting Maung Win, and many others like him, to begin fishing instead.

Agriculture heartland badly affected

According to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released by 
the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) and the UN on 21 July, Nargis damaged 16,200 hectares (ha) of 
standing summer paddy crop - equivalent to 80,000 metric tonnes (mt) of 
production - and paddy and milled rice in farmers' storage estimated at 
251,000 mt.

Damage to farm equipment amounted to close to US$4 billion, while 34,000 
ha of plantation crops worth $3.5 billion were damaged.

With the cyclone striking just prior to the start of the monsoon paddy 
planting season, it is quite likely there will be further production 
losses, the report warned. It cited the reasons as: erosion and damage 
to paddy land, low viability of the rice seed, loss of draught animals 
and farm equipment, the farmers' inability to afford fertilizer, and the 
reduced availability of labour due to home rebuilding efforts, the 
out-migration of casual labour, and the large number of dead.

Losses due to foregone paddy production are estimated at 40-70 percent 
of pre-Nargis levels, or 0.8-1.5 million mt, it added.

Given these facts, and with credit so tight, many farmers are now 
hesitant to invest in something that might fail, prompting many to turn 
to fishing which does not require as much money as farming.

Maung Win calculates that if he had planted paddy, it would have cost 
over $700 for his 10 ha of paddy field for the seeds alone, with the 
cost of power tillers and labour charges added to that.

Fishing - a cheaper alternative

"To go fishing just requires a net. It's not costly," he said. "But it's 
dead sure at least you can get fish for your household eating."

Already some farmers have begun fishing near their homes with nets they 
found in the floodwaters, while others have begun buying them in the 
local markets.

The cost of fishing nets varies with size. Most farmers have been opting 
for small sized nets they can handle easily in the nearby creeks and 
ponds. They cost a fraction of what it would cost to power till their 
own fields, the farmers say.

Although some farmers like Maung Win have decided to give up farming, 
others have opted to fish simply to feed their families - at least in 
the short term.

Problems with rice seedlings

According to the delta farmers, there are two common problems they are 
finding with their seedlings.

Firstly, some of the paddy seeds do not grow successfully, and when it 
comes to replanting, it is already too late.

Secondly, there is the fact that many of the paddy plants are being 
destroyed by snails washed inland by the cyclone.

Since over 783,000 ha of rice paddy fields - 63 percent of paddy land in 
affected areas - were submerged by seawater, most of the farmers 
inevitably face the same problem.

"I saw my paddy plants were being destroyed," a 32-year-old farmer from 
Pyapon, one of the worst-hit areas, said. "I took a grave risk 
[farming]."

Ko Naing, who bought all his farming tools and paddy seeds on 
instalments from the government, echoed this, adding that most farmers 
in his area were experiencing the same plight.

"Not a good sign"

Like many others, he, too, may give up farming altogether to fish the 
nearby creeks near his home - a worrying development in an area where 
agriculture was the driving force behind the local economy.

Prior to Nargis, 50-60 percent of families in the delta were engaged in 
agriculture, the PONJA report revealed.

Meanwhile, agriculture experts warn that the more farmers face problems 
with equipment and seeds, the greater the chance that the country will 
face a rice shortage in future. They are calling on the international 
community for greater assistance.

"It's not a good sign to see the farmers fishing instead of working on a 
field," one local agriculture expert, who preferred anonymity, warned. 
"Their basic needs should be secured so they can concentrate on their 
[farming]," he said.


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