FAO To Donate More Cattle To Myanmar's Cyclone-hit Regions

Malaysian National News Agency

YANGON, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is making arrangements to donate more draught cattle to support the rehabilitation work of Myanmar cyclone victims, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the local "Weekly Eleven" report Tuesday. A total of 550 cows and cattle as well as 15,000 chickens and 60,000 ducks are set to be distributed by the UN organization in November and December this year to survived farmers for the resumption of their agricultural work. Besides, local and other international organizations are also planning to donate pigs, chickens and ducks for the victims. In July this year, purchasing from lesser-cyclone-hit region of Bago and cyclone-free northern region of Mandalay, the FAO had donated 600 cows and cattle for four cyclone-hit regions - Kungyankon, Mawlamyine, Ngaputaw and Phyapon to help restart agricultural cultivation. Earlier, local reports said altogether 1,400 draught buffaloes and cows have also been supplied by local organizations and well-wishers to the storm-hit areas for recultivation. Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage. The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to official statistics. Altogether 300,000 cows and cattle died in cyclone-hard-hit Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions. -- BERNAMA

MYANMAR: High cost of fertiliser threatens harvest

DAYDAYE, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - With many farmers in Myanmar's cyclone-affected areas unable to prepare their fields in time, many planted high yielding rice varieties (HYVs), which have a shorter growth period than traditional types. HYVs generally take around three months to mature, and with this year's rice planting season over at end-July, farmers can expect to harvest in late October or early November. Traditional rice takes longer than HYVs and is generally harvested in late November or December, depending on planting time. However, according to specialists, only with the appropriate fertiliser use can farmers fully benefit from the potential of the high yielding varieties. Traditional local rice varieties generally have a lower yield potential and are often grown without much fertiliser.

Fertiliser in the cyclone-affected rice farming areas of Myanmar costs around $21 per 50kg bag, but $15 in Yangon. Damaged roads have driven up transport costs. In addition, local fertiliser...

Myanmar's Nargis-hit rice fields replanted - FAO

YANGON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Nearly all the rice fields in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta that were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May have been replanted, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Monday. At a ceremony at the Singapore embassy in Yangon to hand over 38,000 bags of fertilizer, FAO resident representative Shin Imai said 97 percent of all damaged paddy in the delta had been replanted by the end of August. Aid agencies had feared that failure to sow rice in most of the affected areas in time for the main crop in the second half of the year would create a long-term dependency on food aid in a country that used to be the world's largest rice exporter. The FAO said in June that of 1.3 million ha (3.2 million acres) of rice fields in the cyclone hit areas, 60 percent was affected by the storm. The Singaporean fertilizer -- enough for 62,000 ha of paddy -- is due to be delivered to affected farmers shortly. The junta's Agriculture Minister, Major General Htay Oo, said...

MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers battle snails

THONEGWA, 26 September 2008 (IRIN) - An unidentified freshwater snail has left scores of paddy farmers in southern Myanmar reeling. In the wake of Cyclone Nargis - which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing in May - farmers cite an increase in the invasive species.  Experts believe the snails were washed up by the sea’s tidal surge when it submerged more than 783,000ha of rice paddy fields or 63 percent of paddy land in the affected areas.  The snails devastate rice fields by feeding on the base of paddy seedlings, as well as on plant leaves and stems, say specialists, and are capable of consuming the young plants overnight.  They prefer young plant parts that are soft because the snails feed by scraping the plant surface with their rough tongue, the experts add.  "We coped with the few snails and sea crabs that appeared before. We simply collected them and destroyed them," said Tint Naing, a paddy farmer from Thonegwa Village, Kunchangone...

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