Each household in Chin state, western sector of Myanmar , is having to pay Kyat 1000 as taxes for being allowed to do farming and collect firewood. The taxes are being collected by the Forest Department of the State Peace and Development Council (the military junta), a report said.

With the onset of the farming season, the forest department is taking undue advantage and collecting Kyat 500 as land and revenue tax. It is also taking Kyat 500 as wood cutting tax from the first week of this month, accounting for a total of Kyat 1000, it said.

"We pay tax to the forest department every year just before farming season commences," a local said.

The Department of Forest in Falam, in Chin State has ordered collection of taxes between October 10 to November from all the villages.

"We could cultivate only about 10 tins of rice last year when we could have cultivated 60 tins of rice. The market price will increase soon," a local in Matupi said.

In Chin state, farmers usually start clearing land from October for sowing. After which they sow rice and vegetable seeds. Their staple food is rice and maize.

However, this year rice cultivation has plummeted because of bamboo flowering where rice and maize stocks have been devoured by rats.

Chin people in the state are suffering from famine following bamboo flowering which leads to rats devouring the flowers and multiplying by the dozen and then destroying both standing crops and those in godowns. Bamboo flowers every 50 years when its life cycle comes to an end.