The rice industry can be implemented not only for export promotion but for import-substitute measures: Senior General
Published on: October 7, 2022.
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The Myanmar Rice Conference 2022 was kicked off at the Myanmar International Convention Centre-II in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning, with an address by State Administration Council Chairman Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
The conference aimed to review appropriate action lines, difficulties and future prospects of the rice sector and discuss the process in the chain of value for rice cultivation, production, milling, storage and sale in accordance with the national export strategy, reform processes and future plans of the government and the private sectors under the theme Rising with rice: Enabling the New Beginnings and Strategic Actions for the Export Promotion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Senior General said rice and rice products are prioritized in the national export strategy being implemented for promoting the export volume. The vision for the promotion of the rice export strategy is to produce and export rice which will be high quality for rural development and increased income as well as sustainable development suitable for the natural environment.
The Myanmar Rice Conference 2022 is being organized by the Ministry of Commerce and the Myanmar Rice Federation on 6 and 7 October.
The sown acreage of rice takes 34 per cent of all cultivable land. Rice was grown on 17 million acres of land in the 2020-21 financial year, and 15 million acres of monsoon paddy and 2.4 million acres of summer paddy, totalling 17.4 million in 2021-22 FY. Efforts should be made for the production of 100 baskets of paddy per acre. The paddy-after-paddy, paddy-bean-paddy, and paddy-sunflower-paddy cropping should be implemented on the land of paddy rather than the expansion of sown acreage.
In the coming summer paddy season, the State will disburse K200,000 per acre of summer paddy at a special rate for implementing the contract farming on 0.85 million acres of farmland, totalling K140 billion which should be spent on quality paddy strains and fertilizers.
Currently, more than 500,000 tonnes of rice and 360,000 tonnes of broken rice, totalling over 860,000 tonnes were exported to 38 customer countries within six months in the 2022-23 financial year, exceeding more than 200,000 tonnes of rice and broken rice in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
In exportation, parboiled rice is traded at US$460 to $505 per tonne. Within six months, 860,000 tonnes of rice comprises parboiled rice for five per cent, broken rice for 42 per cent and usual rice for 53 per cent.
