Farmers forced to cultivate summer paddy

Mi Joi Htaw, IMNA
February 6, 2006

Paddy cultivated in summer does not benefit farmers yet farmers in Mudon Township , Mon State have been threatened that their farms would be seized if they do not grow summer paddy'.

“Mudon police official, U Myo Myint, in charge of summer paddy said that they would seize our farms if we don't grow paddy this summer because the township authority needs paddy grown on 200 acres for policemen and soldiers,” said a farmer.

Farmers do not want to grow summer paddy because the cost of cultivation is high and the returns are low.

The farmers are facing difficulties carrying paddy and equipment from the farm to their house because water seeped into the farm earlier and damaged the road, the residents said.

“Officials from the township come very often to lecture us on the need to grow summer paddy. They waste our time calling us to meetings delaying our work,” a farmer added.

According to residents, they were forced to follow the orders of the township authorities despite the fact that they did not need to grow paddy in summer and have to pay 1,000 Kyat for one acre. The township authorities ordered the village headmen to cultivate instead of all the farmers.

Since 2001 when the Win PaNon dam was built in Abit village, Mudon Township , the nearby villages such as Kalawthut village, Taungpa village Kwankabue and Htone mun were forced to cultivate paddy in summer.

Not only villagers but also farmers in the Mudon town were ordered to cultivate paddy in summer. The farmers near the town had to grow paddy at least on three acres per family. They had to pay 30,000 Kyat per acre if they did not.

The authorities forced the farmers to cultivate the summer paddy because water from the dam was not available any more.

The farmers are unwilling to cultivate paddy in summer because they dot not have enough human resources and water because supply from the dam is cut every year in April and May. So they had to use machines to bring the water into the farm, which cost a lot of money.