Southeast Asia stays world rice bowl as pockets of area endure crop disasters — Radio Free Asia

Rice crops in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have taken a success from flooding and battle this yr, casting a shadow on a largely sunny outlook for Southeast Asia’s output of the important thing grain because the area offers with different potential long run provide troubles, farm officers and researchers say.

Poverty and starvation are stalking some rural communities in peninsular Southeast Asia, additionally referred to as Indochina, because of misplaced crops, hitting populations nonetheless struggling to get better from misplaced earnings and different fallout from widespread financial disruption attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, the poorest Southeast Asian nations, are usually not main gamers in rice manufacturing in a sector dominated by Thailand and Vietnam, which lead the world in exports of the grain. Southeast Asia accounts for 26 % of worldwide rice manufacturing and 40 % of exports, supplying populous neighbors Indonesia and the Philippines, in addition to Africa and the Center East, in accordance the U.N. Meals and Agriculture Group.

However their harvest shortfalls must be made up from different suppliers, and any critical deterioration in rice output may have ripple results on import-dependent nations in Asia. The problem is extra acute at a time of deepening worries over meals safety and rising meals costs within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has eliminated these nations’ key grain exports from world provides.

Cambodia’s Nationwide Committee for Catastrophe Administration reported early this month that floods inundated some 770 villages in 22 provinces, together with Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear. Greater than 150,000 hectares of rice paddies have been flooded greater than 100,000 households have been affected by the floods, a committee official informed native media.

Banteay Meanchey farmer Voeun Pheap informed RFA that floods destroyed greater than 4 hectares of his farm and introduced quick hardship to his household because it worn out his crop and the hope of paying off what he borrowed to plant.

“I couldn’t make a lot cash, I misplaced my investments, and I’m in debt,” he mentioned.

In Laos, an agriculture and forestry official in Hua Phanh province informed RFA that flooding in two districts had worn out rice crops and left 200 households with no harvest to eat or promote.

“Sand is protecting the rice fields throughout because of heavy rain, which destroyed each rice paddies and dry rice fields,” he mentioned, talking on situation of anonymity for security causes.

“Households which were affected will go hungry this yr. The injury is so monumental that villagers should search meals from the forest or promote different crops that weren’t affected,” the official added.

Concern, combating go away fallow fields

Greater than 18 months after a navy coup toppled a well-liked civilian authorities and plunged Myanmar into political and navy battle, the nation of 54 million faces safety threats to its rice provide on high of the environmental and financial issues confronted by its neighbors.

“I’m too afraid to depart my house,” mentioned Myo Thant, a neighborhood farmer within the city of Shwebo within the Sagaing area, a farming area in central Myanmar that has been a predominant theater of combating between ruling military junta forces and native militias against military rule.

“I can’t fertilize the fields and I can’t do irrigation work,” he informed RFA

“The harvest might be down. We’ll barely have sufficient meals for ourselves,” added Myo Thant.

Farmers teams informed RFA that in irrigated paddy farms throughout Myanmar, planting lowered because of the safety challenges in addition to to rising costs for gas, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Growers are limiting their planting to rain-fed rice fields.

“Solely 60 % of (paddy) farms will develop this yr, which signifies that the manufacturing might be lowered by about 40 %,” Zaw Yan of the Myanmar Farmers Consultant Community informed RFA.

Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the Myanmar junta chief, informed a gathering August that of 33.2 million acres of farmland accessible for rice cultivation, solely 15 million acres of wet cause rice and three million acres of irrigated summer time paddy rice are being grown.

Brighter regional outlook

This yr’s flooding has prompted crop losses and concern in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, however thus far it doesn’t seem to have dented the regional outlook for the grain, because of anticipated large crops and surpluses in powerhouse exporters Thailand and Vietnam. World shares have been buoyed by India’s emergence as the highest rice exporter of the grain.

Though Myanmar is embroiled in battle and largely reduce off from world commerce, Cambodia exported 2.06 million tons of milled and paddy rice value practically $616 million within the first half of 2022, a ten % improve over the identical interval in 2021, the nation’s farm ministry mentioned in July. Laos was the world’s twenty fifth largest rice exporter in 2020.

A report launched this month by U.S. Division of Agriculture noticed continued massive exports from Thailand and Vietnam seemingly into 2023, offsetting drops in shipments of the grain from different suppliers.

Whereas the USDA has projected that Southeast Asia’s rice surplus will proceed, a analysis group at Nature Meals that studied rice output in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam steered the area would possibly lose its world Rice Bowl standing. The threats embrace stagnating crop yields, restricted new land for agriculture, and local weather change.

“Over the previous many years, by means of renewed efforts, nations in Southeast Asia have been capable of improve rice yields, and the area as a complete has continued to provide a considerable amount of rice that exceeded regional demand, permitting a rice surplus to be exported to different nations,” the research mentioned.

“At difficulty is whether or not the area will have the ability to retain its title as a serious world rice provider within the context of accelerating world and regional rice demand, yield stagnation and restricted room for cropland enlargement,” it warned.

Jefferson Fox of the East-West Heart in Hawaii mentioned he and different researchers interviewed 100 households in main rice-growing areas of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and located {that a} key constraint on output was planting selections primarily based on value and labor availability and price. Flooding and local weather change weren’t cited.

“Since about 2014 till Ukraine, rice costs have been beneath the ten-year common.  They are not going to plant it if they are not making a lot cash,” he informed RFA.

“One other factor our work has proven is that the primary factor that is occurred since 2020 is that they’ve mechanized the hell out of all the things. Japan led the way in which in making smaller combines and plows and all of that stuff, so all the things is mechanized and so they can use a lot much less labor,” mentioned Fox.

Lengthy-term injury

Rising world demand and better costs, in addition to authorities insurance policies that encourage rice manufacturing in Thailand, Vietnam and others, will help handle provide gaps, he added.

For farmers in Laos, nonetheless, a brighter regional or world provide outlook supplies little consolation for now.

“Subsequent yr, farmers can’t develop rice once more as a result of the irrigation system and rice fields are broken. If the federal government doesn’t assist repair this, the villagers can’t do it as a result of they haven’t any cash. Flooding is brief time period drawback however the irrigation system injury is long run,” mentioned a resident of Na Mor village in Oudomxay province.

And better costs for rice can reduce two methods, encouraging extra manufacturing, however pinching shoppers.

“Our household of 5 is struggling to make ends meet,” mentioned a low-income authorities employee within the suburbs of the Lao capital Vientiane.

“We spend the vast majority of my earnings only for rice.”

Translated by Samean Yun, Ye Kang Myint Maung, and Sidney Khotpanya. Written by Paul Eckert.