Arakan News Agency
The agriculture ministry will plant around 10,000 acres of paddy in Maungdaw, Arakan State, as part of rehabilitation projects in conflict zones, said U Tin Htut, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation.
“Our ministry is drawing up a plan to cultivate around 10,000 acres there. This is one of the projects for the rehabilitation of the region,” he told The Myanmar Times on Sunday.
This project is an initiative of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Arakan (UEHRD) led by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he added.
The Tatmadaw’s aggression against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) forced over 700,000 Rohingya residents of northern Arakan to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Union ministry and the state government sought to develop the cultivation of paddy fields.
“The monsoon is approaching, so the monsoon paddy has to be planted earlier there. The ministry is preparing to plant as much as it can,” U Tin Htut said.
There are over 70,000 acres available for monsoon paddy in Maungdaw. The 10,000 acres will help villagers that have been resettled in the area, with the cooperation of the Agricultural Mechanisation Department, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Land Management under the ministry.
However, as plantation plans are still being drafted, further details are not yet available. As the number of farm workers in Maungdaw decreased, a system requiring less manpower will be implemented for paddy plantation, according to U Tin Htut
“The paddy will most likely be sown by broadcast seeding method,” he said.
This method prepares land tilling before monsoon begins and scatters the paddy seed by hand or mechanically; it is a system that requires the least amount of manpower.
U Aung Thaung Shwe, Pyithu Hluttaw MP from Buthidaung township, said that the ministry’s initiative is superficial and cannot be effectively implemented.
“They’re putting on a show. The groundwork is not effectively done. As they’re not actually doing work, I cannot recommend anything,” he said.
The Agriculture Ministry and Arakan government managed and harvested the abandoned paddy fields last year. However, it was not thoroughly carried out, said U Aung Thaung Shwe. “Things are looking good on TV and in the newspapers.
It’s the opposite on the ground,” he said.
Out of 70,000 acres of monsoon paddy, only 10,000 acres were harvested, according to the media.
