"The monsoon, which started in late May, is due to end later this month. As of Sunday, Thaphan Seik Dam, the biggest in Southeast Asia, had only 600,000 acre feet of water, compared to 2.25 million acre feet of water during the same period last year, or only 27 percent of the previous year. “It is hard to distribute enough water for summer rice. Some dams have to prioritise drinking water,” said U Myo Tint Tun, deputy permanent secretary of the ministry. “So farmers need to save water in order to minimise, if not prevent, a water shortage.” U Win Hlaing Oo, head of the Agriculture Department in Sagaing Region, said that to conserve water his office will plant less rice in the summer in favour of crops that use less water. “After we supply water for monsoon rice, we will reduce the cultivating area of summer rice,” he said. “Instead, we will grow crops like mung beans and sesame, which need less water.” The large dams in the dry zone of central Myanmar, which includes Sagaing, Mandalay and Magwe regions, are low on water, agriculture officials said..."