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and the rest of the country in 1885. Rice development was initiated by theBritish after the second colonization stage by putting the Irrawaddy deltaicarea under rice cultivation. This deltaic area offered a favorable rice environmentin terms of both weather and soil. With a view to exporting rice to Europe, theBritish government encouraged increased production in every possible way.Land, labor, and capital are the three main resources necessary for riceproduction. Favorable deltaic land was there, but labor was needed to clear theswamps and to cultivate rice. The British government introduced an immigrationscheme to induce the people of Upper Burma to move to Lower Burma.It also imported Indian workers under various immigration programs.Moreover, it improved river and rail transportation to facilitate north-southmovement between Upper Burma and the delta. There were also attractiveland tenure systems. The need for capital was fulfilled by providing loans topioneer settlers. Private moneylenders, well-protected by the law, providedthe greater share of the capital requirement.These activities, aimed at increasing rice production through the expansionof cultivated area, were organized by the government, while the wholeprocess of production was facilitated by enacting the necessary legislation andintroducing various incentives. At the same time, the government encouragedthe rice milling industry and trade, both internal and external, by helpingmany commercial firms and private enterprises. These forces spurred riceproduction growth during this era, increasing it to a remarkable level in a shorttime. Production rose sharply between 1885 and 1910.The rice-sown area of 1.5 million ha in 1885 increased to 4 million ha in1910. While the yield remained almost the same, the rapid area expansionincreased production from 2 million to 6 million t. As a result, rice exports alsorose from a few hundred thousand to 1.5 million t.Such remarkable and rapid growth in the country’s rice industry wasmade possible by a multitude of factors, five of which are considered mostsignificant: 1) availability of vast areas of deltaic land favorable for ricecultivation, 2) provision of various incentives and inducements by the government,3) lifting of the ban on rice exports, 4) great demand for rice by theexpanding rice and allied industries in Europe, and 5) development of thesteam-powered ship engine and the opening of the Suez Canal, which shortenedthe distance between Europe and Burma.Production stability during the period was striking, in spite of the fact thatrice cultivation relied totally on the weather. No serious flood or droughtadversely affected production. The trend followed a linear pattern. The priceof the crop did not fluctuate much—from Rs 95 in 1885 to Rs 110 for 100 baskets(or 2100 kg) of unhusked rice.Production sustainability was also remarkable, since ricelands had beenrecently cleared for cultivation. This provided high inherent fertility thatassured continued production. The use of cow dung also helped sustainproduction.INTRODUCTION 7
The equity of production, however, was not so encouraging. While landwas cleared by the pioneer settlers, ownership slowly changed from tillers tomoneylenders because of the farmers’ inability to repay loans at the stipulatedtime. This resulted in landlord and tenant classes in Burmese society. Themoneylenders continued to play the role of landlord cum moneylender. Theoriginal owners of resources for rice production then became the beneficiaries.Small farmers who grew rice spent 84% of their output as paid-out costs,leaving them only 16%. Land rent and high interest rates took up a large shareof their output. As a result, unequal distribution of production output createdeconomic and consequently social inequality. And there were no effectivemeasures to reduce these economic and social inequalities.The colonial government that induced rapid rice production through theexpansion of area finally created political instability. The relationship betweenlandlords and tenants deteriorated to such an extent that the country experiencedracial conflict and political uprisings resulting from the agrarian crisis.The impact of higher rice production ended in the frustration of farmers as aresult of land alienation. World War II ended these regrettable events.Independence-generated forcesThe second rice production growth period occurred between 1955 and 1965. Itstarted when the country gained independence from the British. The peoplehad great hopes that, once freed from colonial domination, the country wouldbecome prosperous. The newly independent government implemented theLand Nationalization Act to ensure equitable distribution of land. Governmentalaction on remission of debt, low-interest loans, security of land tenure,and other incentives once more increased rice production.The new government drew and implemented an agricultural sector planthat placed emphasis on elimination of landlordism, application of scientificmethods to agriculture, and raising rice exports to prewar levels. The governmentplanned to use the rice areas abandoned during the war. But manyfactors prevented implementation of the plan, and it took 15 yr to recover therice area and restore production to prewar levels. The government did notfully achieve its objective, but it pushed rice production growth upward fromthe low level brought about by the war.The rice-sown area increased from 4 million to 5 million ha, raisingproduction from 6 million to 8 million t. Again, the rice production trendfollowed a linear pattern. The price of rice did not change much during thisperiod. The cost of 100 baskets (2100 kg) of unhusked rice was about 300 kyats(about $38). There was a slight increase in yield due to the use of improvedvarieties and a small amout of chemical fertilizer. Agrarian problems werelessened to some extent, and there was noticeable improvement in the plightof farmers. Rice exports rose to nearly 2 million t but still fell short of the prewarlevel.8 A CENTURY OF RICE IMPROVEMENT IN BURMA
Page 3 and 4: The International Rice Research Ins
Page 5 and 6: Rice trading 29Rice milling 29Rice
Page 8: ForewordRice dominates Burma’s ec
Page 11 and 12: ice production in the last decade.
Page 14 and 15: CHAPTER IIntroductionBurma is situa
Page 16 and 17: 1. Trends in rice area and producti
Page 18 and 19: 3. Soil distribution.INTRODUCTION 5
Page 22 and 23: Rice production growth during this
Page 24 and 25: 4. Rice threshing with cattle.5. Ri
Page 26 and 27: 7. Transplanting.Farmers classify r
Page 28: 8. States and Divisions (1-7 are di
Page 43: Table 11. Rice mills, 1894-1934 (DA
Page 51 and 52: Rice area and productionAlthough th
Page 53 and 54: Table 16. Rice production in select
Page 55 and 56: Tenants of State Agricultural BankA
Page 57 and 58: in 1960, representing a 17% increas
Page 59: Table 20. Summary of extension acti
Page 62 and 63: Table 24. Rice procurement by diffe
Page 64 and 65: This trade reduction severely affec
Page 66: conditions and a weak international
Page 69 and 70: the design, implementation, and eva
Page 71 and 72:
Table 27 indicates the areas plante
Page 73 and 74:
The coastal zone comprised four ric
Page 78 and 79:
In the meantime, local researchers
Page 80 and 81:
Table 35. Rice area planted, by gra
Page 83 and 84:
All fertilizers were imported until
Page 85 and 86:
points, 3) availability of cash amo
Page 87 and 88:
hispa Hispa armigera. Though annual
Page 89 and 90:
The amounts of agricultural loans g
Page 91 and 92:
from double-cropped areas (Table 44
Page 93 and 94:
when investment in the agricultural
Page 96 and 97:
The program brought research and ex
Page 98 and 99:
Table 46. Average area of responsib
Page 100 and 101:
established practice among farmers,
Page 102 and 103:
12. Voluntary labor harvesting rice
Page 104 and 105:
of harvesting. It sought voluntary
Page 106 and 107:
nents that a larger project would r
Page 108 and 109:
Table 48. Changes in area planted t
Page 110 and 111:
Table 50. Average yield and product
Page 112 and 113:
Results of analysisOf the variables
Page 114 and 115:
Of the 19 variables used, 11 were s
Page 116 and 117:
weather that it influenced rice pro
Page 118 and 119:
Table 54. Present level of technolo
Page 120 and 121:
size of holdings, 40% of the prize
Page 122 and 123:
average yield at that time was 2.20
Page 124 and 125:
Table 59. Monthly transactions of t
Page 126 and 127:
Table 61. Irrigated areas for rice,
Page 128 and 129:
Table 62. Tillage operation by trac
Page 130 and 131:
18. AFPTC rice procurement center.A
Page 132 and 133:
Table 65. Annual rice procurement (
Page 134 and 135:
for seeds; still others sold their
Page 136 and 137:
primarily to help achieve the AFPTC
Page 138 and 139:
Table 67. Annual rice production an
Page 140 and 141:
Table 68. Comparison of paid-out co
Page 142 and 143:
CHAPTER VImplications for the futur
Page 144 and 145:
agricultural research can be brough
Page 146 and 147:
Motivation of scientistsUnder these
Page 148 and 149:
or as individuals. Research is to b
Page 150 and 151:
CHAPTER VIConclusionsBurma’s econ
Page 152 and 153:
References citedAdas M (1974) The B
Page 154:
SRUB—The socialist Republic of th
Page 157 and 158:
Appendix 1 continuedSown area Produ
Page 159 and 160:
Appendix II continuedShareRice a Al
Page 161 and 162:
Appendix IV continuedYear Exports Y
Page 163 and 164:
Appendix VIcontinuedVariable Symbol
Page 165 and 166:
All combined1977-84 1977-78 1978-79
Page 167 and 168:
Appendix VIII. Correlation coeffici
Page 170 and 171:
IndexAdas, M 6Africa 125, 137Agricu
Page 172 and 173:
farmers 6-9, 13, 18, 23, 25-26, 29,
Page 174 and 175:
Okpo Small Loan Department110, 111O
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