Nargis devastates Rice Bowl of Asia

The devastating tropical cyclone Nargis that struck southern Burma (Myanmar) two months ago not only killed thousands of people, but also devastated the agriculture of the South East Asian country. The storm, according to the latest government information, killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured. The United Nations estimates that Nargis affected 2.4 million people and directly made thousands homeless.

The deadly cyclone moved towards the Burmese land from the Bay of Bengal on the night of May 2, and it devastated the entire Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions of the country. Nargis also embraced three other divisions and states (Bago, Mon and Kayin) and left a trail of devastation on social infrastructures, killing thousands of livestock and also causing flood, destroying the paddy fields, which were made ready for the country's primary crops (rice).

The international observers believe that the cyclone killed over 3,00,000 water buffaloes and cows died in Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon localities. Moreover, nearly 10,00,000 acres of farmland in Irrawaddy and 3,00,000 acres in Rangoon division were destroyed. Over one million acres of fertile land were also flooded with the salty seawater.

Nargis hit the country in a critical period of the year. The month of May in English calendar year brings the season for preparing rice seedlings, which are to be planted later. Like many south and Southeast Asian countries, rice is the primary crop (also the staple food) of Burma. The traditional rice plantation needs to be completed within the rainy season, more preferably by July end. The harvesting time starts from October. Hence, the May 2-3 disaster can put a heavy toll on rice production in the country.

"The cyclone in one hand, flooded the arable lands with the salty sea water, destroyed the already grown saplings and on the other hand, it killed the water buffaloes (also cows), which are essential for the poor Burmese cultivators for ploughing. If immediate actions are not taken to support the farmers with tiller and fresh rice saplings, it can be guessed that Burma might face food severe crisis at the end of the year because the Irrawaddy delta region produces most (almost 60 per cent) of the country's rice," commented a Rangoon based social activist.

Talking to this writer from the former capital of Burma, the activist, who wanted anonymity, also added that the Irrawaddy region also contributes in fish productions. The cyclone damaged most of the fishing ponds, hatcheries and shrimp farms of the area and it could add more people under the acute poverty tag in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the UN Undersecretary-General Noeleen Heyzer issued a clarion call for supplying fuel (to run the power tillers) for the Burmese farmers. Heyzer had reportedly stated that this initiative was crucial for the affected Burmese farmers 'to meet their planting season' to rebuild their livelihood.

Earlier, the Burmese Agriculture minister, Htay Oo informed that they urgently needed diesel (it might be a volume of five million litre) to run around 5,000 power tillers. It may be mentioned that understanding the real and immediate difficulties of the rice growers, many countries including China and Thailand donated the power tillers to the farmers.

Burma, which was once known as the rice bowl of Asia, has slowly lost the volume of rice production. Four decades of non-governance under the military rule and disastrous economic policies of the junta has left Myanmar in such a pathetic condition that the farmers have now lost their interest and motivation for surplus rice productions.

The response to the disaster by the military rulers remained shocking. The regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council, couldn't provide immediate relief to the victims and secondly, they tried to prevent (and restrict) the international aid for their very own people, who were in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter. They have not shown any efficient measure to deal with the loss of agriculture productions as well.

"In reality, Nargis has revealed to the world that it was even less disastrous compared to SPDC. Because, the junta not only ignored the difficulties faced by its own people after the disaster, but also restricted relief from international communities for the victims. The notorious regime had one and only apprehension that the massive flow of foreign aid workers to the country might create an ambiance for a major uprising against the government," commented a Burmese exile based in Chiang Mai of Thailand.

Talking to this wrier, the young political activist, who too wanted anonymity, also added that Nay Pyi Taw remained blind to the political power and they could go to all extent to maintain it. Hence, the regime could ignore all the troubles faced by the cyclone victims. The SPDC chief senior general, Than Shwe got time to visit those victims only after international criticism came out in a bigger way. They are probably ready to sacrifice the people, but never tolerate international access (through the aid workers) to its common people.

Nava Thakuria

The author is a Guwahati based journalist and he contributes articles for a number of newspapers and portals based in different parts of the globe. His special focus areas remain the socio-political developments in Northeast and India as a whole. He can be reached at navathakuria@gmail.com