Farmers in Arakan State are facing a decrease in the prices of paddy this season, after authorities have allowed the transport of rice from Burma proper into Arakan, according to a farmer.

He said, "This time last year, 100 baskets of paddy in our local markets was for 250,000 kyat, but this year it is only 130,000 kyat. We are unable to make any profit from our products this year."

Arakan State is the third highest producer of rice in Burma, but the price is continuously increasing because Arakanese rice is exported to neighbouring Bangladesh.

However, this year the price of rice in Arakan has decreased because the government has been permitting traders to freely transport rice from Burma proper to Arakan State.

A rice trader from Sittwe said, "The rice from Arakan State is still being exported to Bangladesh, but the price of rice is not currently increasing. I do not know the reason behind this."

Farmers in Arakan State have put in a lot of money into their paddy farms, but they have been unable to recoup their investments from the market.

"We had to buy a sack of fertilizer for 40,000 kyat to use for our paddy farm, but we cannot recover the expenditure for paddy farms if we are only selling paddy, because the price of paddy is very low this year," the farmer said.

In Arakan State, the price of rice typically increases, but this year the price has dipped, disappointing many farmers and leaving them unable to earn an income.