Many farmers in Mon state are in a spot due to heavy rains, which have destroyed their rice seedlings by inundating the paddy, according to farmers from Mudon Township.
Last week during heavy rains in Mon State, rice paddy seedlings, which had already begun to grow, were inundated in a deluge.
“All my paddy seedlings were destroyed because of heavy rains, which continued for five days. Now paddy fields have been inundated and we can’t start to replant seedlings,” said a farmer in Mudon Township.
Given the losses, some farmers, who do not have enough money to buy new seedlings, must to borrow money from other residents to replant their paddy.
“We started our work with the onset of monsoons, when we grew our plant seedlings which sprouted, but then the heavy rain started. Now we can’t do anything in our fields,” said another farmer in Mudon Township. “The rainy season started, and it rained for a week. Now, the water hasn’t gone down and we have to start all over again,” the farmer added.
Last week heavy rain also destroyed seedling plants, which were taking root in the paddy fields of farmers near the Win Pa Non dam in Mudon Township.
“Paddy fields near the Win Pa Non dam [Kalort-tort, Taungpa, Doe-mar, and Kwan-ka-bue villages] suffered more damage due to flooding than other villages because water from the dam flows into the nearby paddy fields,” said a resident of a village near the dam.
According to a Kaowao News article on June 8, the heavy rain also destroyed 10 homes in Mudon Township, and four people went missing after a boat capsized.
This season is normally the time when farmers have to transplant paddy after the seedlings begin to grow. However, rather then transplanting their seedlings, farmers have to again scatter the rice sprouts for a new crop.
The loss of rice crops from inundation comes at a bad time because the fall in price for Mon State’s two main crops has devastated the region’s economy. The price of rice has been down in Mon state since last year, and the price of rubber has gone down by half. And now this year heavy rain has destroyed seedling plants. So farmers in Mon state are faced with many economic problems.
“Last year the wages for day labourers for growing paddy plants was 2,500 kyat per day. This year we are only able to pay the same wages,” said that a farmer from Mudon. “We must also use workers from Pegu Division because they are good workers and will work for less money than workers from Mon State,” he added.
This time last year, 100 sacks of rice could be sold for 580,000 kyat, but this year 100 sacks will only sell for 480,000 kyat. Farmers, who already face losses, must now start the growing process taking into stride this problem as well.
