A list of the number of acres of farmland being cultivated in Kalay Township in Sagaing Division, northwest Burma is being compiled by the Burmese military junta authorities with an eye to procuring paddy from farmers, farm sources said.

The move is to ensure that farmers in Kalay provide the exact amount of paddy needed for the Light Infantry Battalion (89) of the Burmese Army stationed in Kalay Township for soldiers' ration for 2009, farmers in Kalay said.

"They (military authorities) compiled the list to find out how many acres of farmland the farmers own. After which they will ask farmers to provide paddy for army ration following harvesting," a farmer from Kalay said on condition of anonymity.

There are around one million acres of farmland that farmers cultivate in Kalay Township.

Farmers will have to provide paddy to the army on the basis of the number of acres of farmland they cultivate.

Last year, military authorities had collected two tins of paddy for each acre of cultivated land from Kalay's farmers for stocking up on army rations. 

The farmers meanwhile are frustrated and upset as the army authorities had not bothered to compensate them for the paddy collected.

"They should at least compensate at half the prevailing market price. We had invested a lot of money for hiring labourers and cattle in cultivating paddy," complained a farmer in Kalay.

"After the money we invested, the soldiers just came and took away the paddy from us," he added.