"Rice paddy farmers in Ayeyarwady Region have complained that merchants are paying them less than the minimum price recently set by the government. The government’s Leading Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Interests of Farmers, led by Vice President Henry Van Thio, fixed the floor price for rice this year at 500,000 kyats for 100 baskets of paddy (US$327.30 for about 2.09 tons) in a move to protect the interests of paddy farmers. But farmers in Ayeyarwady Region said merchants only pay for around 450,000 kyats for 100 baskets of paddy. “In Maubin, paddy prices are between 450,000 and 480,000 kyats. This is the price given by merchants and rice millers. Though the government said the minimum price is 500,000 kyats, nobody is paying that price, and the government is not buying directly from farmers, so we can only sell at market rates,” said rice farmer U Hla Htay of Yenangyoung village in Maubin Township. The government said in the second week of October that it will pay the floor price for paddy that meets quality standards: the grains, once processed, must have a moisture content of 14 percent and the baskets can’t contain any dust, sand or gravel..."