Almost one year after Nargis swept destruction throughout the Delta of Irrawaddy, the farmers of Maubin is still suffering from badly decreased harvest and lack of capital to afford farming inputs, which eventually has landed them into a deeper level of destitution. The size of land does not guarantee the ability to cultivate and earn good harvest, while the price of rice both in the local and world market has been plunging into more than 40% lower than previous year.

The village tract of Alangyi is home to 185 farmer households, which lies at the end of straight and dusty road, 30 minutes drive from Maubin town, deep inside endless stretch of paddy and pulses fields. Around 30% of the farmers live in Alangyi village, tucked behind roadside sunflower fields, and cultivated 33% of the arable land of the village tract.

Most of the farmers in Alangyi grow pulses such as black grams (matpe) and green grams (petesein), as well as rice; while a small percentage grows betel leaves and sunflowers. The government encouraged farmers to grow sunflowers as part of cooking oil crops to reduce edible oil import. Some farmers managed to harvest and secure sunflower seeds for forthcoming cultivation season, while some others were able to gain extra sunflower oil for 3-4 months of consumption. By February 2009, the price of black grams at Mandalay wholesale market is 12 USD for 1 basket (around 21 kg), while the price of rice is around 11 USD for 1.5 baskets (around 7.6 USD for 1 basket) and many farmers whose land is suitable for pulses have decided to plant them.

During the current summer season, only 42% of 480 acres of land in Alangyi village is cultivated with summer paddy and 8% are cultivated with pulses. The rest of the land is left to dry.

The economy of Myanmar (Burma) is heavily reliant on agricultural products. Black grams is one of its principal agricultural export crops, which covers around 49% of export crops, mainly to India. According to figures of official government statistics, Myanmar (Burma) exported 1.34 million tons of beans and pulses such as matpe, petesein and other types in 2007 for a total value of US$750 million (The Myanmar Times, Oct. 2008). The green grams is mainly used for household purposes, but not as staple food.

Only Five Acres
U Tin Han, a local farmer, has decided to cultivate only five acres of his land with matpe and sunflowers, then neglected the remaining acres. “It is difficult to get water into my field. My soil has enough sand elements needed for beans to grow and only five acres of my land have those elements.” He explained.

Last year, the farm recovery assistance allowed him to harvest 705 baskets of monsoon paddy. The yield was similar to his monsoon harv est in 2007. This is a significant achievement despite the devastation that he has been putting up with. However, since the current market price of rice is plunging 40% less from its previous year price tag, thus his harvest will only be worth of 220,000 Kyats per 100 baskets (around 220 USD), he has decided to keep them at home as in kind reserve. He believed the 2,090 kg of rice set aside as food stock will be enough to feed his family of five until the end of August this year, which means 1.8 kg of rice for each person, three meals a day.


Thirteen Percent of Nothingness
The thin-framed man in his fifties had a worn out polo and faded checkered blue and gray longyi. He quietly explained that the fertilizers he received from CWS partner in 2008 have increased his monsoon yield to 13% compared to 2007. He planned to allocate around 1-2 tons of his harvest to buy paddy seeds for forthcoming planting season and set 3,5 tons of rice aside as food stock for his family of nine. He was quite sure that a daily ration of 1.8 kg of rice for each family member would last until the next eight months.

At present, U Hla Htay could only manage to cultivate three acres of his land with summer paddy. His tone was torn between hope and despair when he was saying, “I’m not sure whether I could afford buying enough farming inputs.” The inputs into his three acres of land will eventually reward him with a meager 100 baskets (around 2,1 tons). “Right now, I could only afford one bag of T-Super fertilizer.” The debt-laden farmer stopped talking and looked blankly outside the window, not knowing how he could obtain more money to buy two more bags of Urea fertilizer to ensure good summer harvest.

 The muted man gave in a shy smile when he started talking about his seven children and his animals, several draft animals, chickens and pigs. His two youngest children are in primary and elementary schools. Although he admitted in hushed voice that his oxen were not in tip top condition, he has great confidence to his draft animals, which have helped plough and harrow his field. His three pigs are around eight months old. A year old pig that weighs around 40 viss (around 65 kg) can be sold at around 90,000 Kyats in local market. U Hla Htay heard that pork prices are decreasing around Maubin, but not in Alangyi.

In most villages, oxen as draft animals are the most important assets of a farmer household. Chickens and ducks come in second place as they ar perfect offering at religious events, thus keeping several of them at home is necessary. Pigs is in third place, still it’s a good asset that can be sold later.

Getting back on their feet for small farmers means rebuilding a home for their family and good harvest. U Hla Thay was not quick to answer whether he would be able to get back to his normal conditions in four years from now. The wary-looking man sighed as he was saying, “I don’t think I can afford rebuilding my home.” Currently, across the Delta, aid groups estimate at least 500,000 survivors, including 200,000 children are still living in makeshift shelters.

Surviving from the wrath of Nargis has taken the farmers of the Delta into a lower level of impoverishment that they are trying very hard to fight with dignity; despite the triple debts, meager harvest and decreased market price for crops.

The various assistance provided by CWS in collaboration with its partners and alliance, which most aid recipients have much appreciated, still left gaping holes for further supports to mend; such as provision of farming inputs, improved capacity in agricultural management, ensured access to education and better capacity in managing possible disasters in the future will help lifting up the disaster-affected community into normal condition.