This rice harvesting season, the Burmese ruling junta is buying paddy at a fixed-price higher than last year but farmers in Burma's northern Kachin state do not stand to benefit, said local sources.

The reason is that the junta is not buying paddy directly from farmers in Mohnyin, Namma, Hopin and Mogaung townships, where most people cultivate paddy, unlike last year. It is buying paddy from paddy merchants, said farmers' sources in Mohnyin.

During last year's rice harvesting season, the junta bought paddy directly from farmers at 2,500 Kyat per tin (Burma's standard unit of measurement of rice is 1 tin = 10.5 kg) while the price in the market was 4,000 Kyat (US $ 4) per tin. This year, the military is paying more at 3,000 Kyat (US $3) per tin of paddy whereas paddy is less than 2,500 Kyat (US $2) per tin in outside markets, according to farmers in Mohnyin.

Last year, farmers had to sell duty-paddy (the amount of paddy grains demanded by the junta) to the regime incurring a loss. This year they cannot sell rice directly to the junta despite the higher price the junta is offering, local farmers added.

This year, local rice merchants, who have a tie up with the junta's administrators of townships and villages' get a net profit from paddy because they buy for less than 2,500 Kyat per tin from local farmers and sell for 3,000 Kyat per tin to the junta, added local farmers.

Since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's rice bowl the Irrawaddy River Delta on May 2-3, 2008, farmers in Kachin state have not sold their paddy for export, according to farmers. Besides, farmers cannot sell rice to Burma's neighbouring countries like Thailand, India and China, like earlier.

A farmer in Lajayang, a village situated near the Sino-Burma border in eastern Kachin sate said, "This rice harvesting season, we, the villagers have harvested paddy more profitably than last year but we have no market to sell it for family income. Unlike last year, we cannot sell paddy to Chinese markets."

According to the junta-run news papers, Kachin state is the second largest rice producing state in Burma.