The State places emphasis on enhancing the socioeconomic life of rural people. More than five million families of rural people are relying on their livelihoods engaging in paddy cultivation and production, milling, transport and chain of rice trading.
If mature paddy fields become lodged due to unexpected natural disasters such as rainfall and strong winds, any water remaining in the fields must be drained out as quickly as possible. It is then essential to harvest and thresh the crops immediately using both machinery and manual labour, utilizing harvesters, threshers, and mechanical dryers. Even if this involves harvesting early without using the traditional threshing plain area, doing so will significantly reduce crop loss.
Taking these measures minimizes crop loss and improves the quality of the paddy that farmers nationwide have cultivated through great toil and hardship. Consequently, this can directly enhance the household income and standard of living for each farming family. By preventing drops in paddy yield, it helps ensure food security across the entire nation.
In accordance with the provisions of the Law for the Protection of the Rights and Promotion of the Interests of Farmers, and to foster a fair market and reasonable prices for paddy farmers, the basic reference price for paddy crops to be produced was announced on 21 October. The set price is K1,350,000 per 100 baskets of paddy meeting quality standards – specified as having a 14 per cent moisture content, free of husks and debris, and weighing 46 pounds per basket. This designated basic reference price is intended for the 2026 monsoon paddy and the 2027 summer paddy crops.
No matter how much paddy prices fall in the open market, farmers are protected against losses because the government and the Myanmar Rice Federation guarantee purchases at rates not lower than the designated basic reference price. The federation takes active steps to stabilize the market. These include releasing fair reference prices categorized by rice variety and season, conducting inspections and taking action to prevent unreasonable price gouging against consumers, and releasing emergency reserve rice for sale to stabilize the market whenever rice prices surge excessively.
Only when rice prices are stable can all citizens’ socioeconomic well-being be stable. Therefore, rice producers must not only cultivate a single harvest of monsoon paddy, but also prepare in advance and vigorously produce summer paddy. In addition to ensuring nationwide self-sufficiency, efforts must be made to export surplus quantities of rice to international markets, thereby contributing to the growth of national revenue.
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