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intervention, in the form of agricultural loans, did not completely solve theproblem. The indiscriminate slaughter of cattle during the war caused ashortage of work animals.Under these circumstances, the target set in the plan proved to be veryambitious. The target for sown area was reset in the Agricultural and RuralDevelopment Five-Year Plan, but recovery of the area followed the same slowpace, indicating that the same problems persisted.Yield and productionDuring the war years, yield declined appreciably, but it recovered slowly andreached the prewar level in 1958. The decline in yield was due to the unstablepolitical conditions in the rural areas. Farmers could not tend their fields asoften as necessary. They usually started late in the morning and trooped backto the village before dark. The average annual yield during that period was 1.5t/ha, slightly lower than that of the previous period.Table 15 shows the average annual yield from 1940 to 1960. The yield wentdown to about 1 t/ha during the war years, but this increased slowly afterindependence in 1948 (Table 15). Although the agricultural sector plan stressedthe need to apply scientific methods to agriculture, the period did not witnessany substantial adoption of modern techniques. Farmers spent less timeworking in the fields because of security reasons. Repair and improvement ofembankments and drainage somehow helped raise the yield.The slow increase in rice area and the low yield meant slow productiongains. Rice production was a function of harvested area—generally 95% of thesown area—and yield.Table 16 shows rice production in Burma in selected years. The area sownin 1960 was only 83% of that sown in 1940, but production was slightly higherbecause of the slight increase in yield. Production, however, still fell short bya quarter million tons compared with the level attained in 1930. The bad peaceand order situation in the rural areas contributed to poor performance.Table 15. Rice yield in selected years, 1940-60 (DSLR, various years).Rice Rice RiceYear yield a Year yield a Year yield a(t/ha) (t/ha) (t/ha)1940194219451948194919501.61.41.11.41.31.5195119521953195419551.51.51.41.51.5195619571958195919601.61.41.71.71.7a Converted from basket/acre to kg/ha.RICE PRODUCTION UNDER THE INDEPENDENT BURMESE GOVERNMENT 39
Table 16. Rice production in selected years, 1940-60.RiceRiceRiceYear production Year production Year production(million t) a (million t) a (million t) a1940194219451948194919506.8945.7522.6775.1644.5815.403195119521953195419555.6015.8425.5795.6516.025195619571958195919606.0256.2825.4237.1837.085a 1940-54 figures were taken from Yearly seasons and crops reports (DSLR, various years); 195560 data came from Agricultural statistics 1964-65 and 1965-66 (RGUB 1966).VarietiesMany rice varieties bred at the experimental stations were lost during the war.The DA reestablished these facilities after the war, concentrating on thecollection and reselection of lost breeding lines. Security at these stations wasnot adequate, and many of the breeding lines recovered were brought toRangoon for reselection. But even Rangoon could not offer the right atmospherefor reselection work. This paved the way for the establishment of the AgriculturalResearch Institute (ARI) in 1954. Though mandated to initiate and expandagricultural research activities, the new institute at that time preoccupied itselfwith staff recruitment, procurement of equipment, and construction of fieldand laboratory facilities and, therefore, did not contribute much to agriculturaldevelopment.Seed distributionSeed multiplication and distribution activities during the period were notsignificant. The DA distributed 2800 t pure seeds every year, sufficient to plant50,000 ha. Distribution of seeds (mostly of A and C varieties) was restricted toareas without security problems.Fertilizer and agrochemical useFertilizer and agrochemical use remained low. The agricultural sector planpressed for greater use through more demonstrations and intensified extensionservices. In 1957, farmers began using small amounts of fertilizers (in theform of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate) in rice cultivation.Farmers, at first, strongly resisted the use of fertilizers, because they thoughtthat fertilizers spoil the soil and affect crop quality.Table 17 indicates annual fertilizer consumption (reported as urea andtriple superphosphate) and the average rate of NP application. The use offertilizers increased at approximately the rate of 1000 t/yr, with averageapplication amounting to only 0.25 kg NP/ha. During the promotion period,fertilizers were given away free or on credit. Agrochemical use was negligible.Farmers felt no need to protect indigenous varieties in monocultural systems.40 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 20 and 21: and the rest of the country in 1885
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: Rice area and productionAlthough th
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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