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Burma Rice Exports To Triple By 200



Subject: Burma Rice Exports To Triple By 2001

Burma Rice Exports To Triple By 2001;Irrigation Works Key
 
    By Camille Klass 
 
   SINGAPORE (AP-Dow Jones)--Through extensive irrigation 
projects that will cost the Burmese government 44 billion kyats, 
or approximately $7.33 billion, Burma is aiming to treble its rice 
exports to three million metric tons, an official with Burma's 
Ministry of Agriculture told Dow Jones News Services Monday. 
   That would see Burma's rice exports surge to levels not seen 
since before World War II. 
   Irrigation projects are the key to higher output and exports, 
said U Aye Ko, deputy director-general of the ministry's Department 
of Agricultural Planning (DAP). 
   'These projects are primarily being undertaken to achieve the 
objective of (producing) surplus rice,' said U. 'We envisage rice 
exports at three million tons by 2001.' 
   Burma last year exported 1.033 million tons, according to 
statistics from the country's agricultural ministry. 
   'We're trying to increase the cropping intensity and we need 
irrigation because of the climactic conditions of the country,' 
said U. 'We have three seasons a year - summer, rainy and winter. 
The rainy season stretches from mid-May to end-October and when that 
stops there's a long spell of dry weather from summer to winter. We 
need sustainable water for the second crop of paddy and for other cash 
and industrial crops to grow.' 
   Among the irrigation projects the Burmese government will undertake 
to achieve its objective of higher rice output and exports are the 
construction of new reservoirs and dams and the renovation of existing 
reservoirs, he added. 
   Since 1990, 64 reservoirs and dams have been built, the costs of 
which the government has borne alone, U said. The total number of 
reservoirs and dams, which cover 11 of Burma's 14 states and divisions, 
will grow to 139 by the end of the government's second five-year plan, 
which comes into effect this month. 
   The completion of the planned 139 reservoirs and dams will bring 
the net irrigated area in the country up to 6.67 million acres, or 28% 
of the total net sown acreage of 23.69 million acres, U said. 
   By next year, U says that 5.65 million acres of the 16 million 
acres of riceland will be irrigated. 
   Although the government is currently planning to fund the projects 
on its own, it is open to funding from international development 
agencies, U said. 
   Since the end of World War II, Burma's rice exports have fallen 
by 66% because of population growth and policies adopted 'during 
the previous socialist economy system,' U said. 
   According to U, the current annual rice surplus is two million 
tons out of a total yearly production of approximately 16 million 
tons. However, total exports last year were only half of that surplus. 
   U Nyunt Aye, general manager of Myanmar Export and Import Services, 
the country's sole rice import and export arm, said the surplus that 
is not exported is reserved for domestic stocks. 
   Domestic consumption in Burma is the highest in Asia, said DAP's U. 
   'Our per annum consumption is 190 kilograms per head compared to an 
average of about 120 kilos per head in Thailand,' he added. 
   Thailand is the world's largest rice exporter. 
   (END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 22-04-96
   0850GMT


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(A lot of "U"s - Imre Der)