Myanmar: Fearing Extreme Weather, Farmers Scale Back Rice Cultivation

May 28, 2016 | Phyo Thiha Cho, Myanmar Now
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The Irrawaddy Delta is home to millions of subsistence farmers whose income and food security relies on their annual harvest, and to a lesser extent fishing. The drop in rice production follows the devastating impact of Cyclone Komen, which ravaged the agricultural sector with heavy flooding in 12 out of 14 states and divisions from June to August last year. Some 260,000 acres of monsoon paddy fields were flooded and 52,000 acres damaged, according to official figures, which showed that the cyclone and flooding killed 120 people nationwide and affected more than 400,000 households.