Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit

Volume 2, Issue 3

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Newsletter
Myanma A g r i cultural Service (MAS), the mon2009 s o o n 2010 r a i n s came late and on the low June Jul y Rai nfal l (Inches) side but Bogale Township in June and July had experienced much less rainfall than in 2009. In June 2010 Bogale had experienced 37 percent less raining days than the June 2009. In July 2010 the raining days in Bogale area were 19 percent less than the previous July. For the rainfall, Bogale had received 36 percent and 75 percent less during June and July compared with the same period in 2009. (see Chart One) cultivate 310, 674 acres of land for paddy., according to the MAS. Up to July , the actual cultivated acreage was 89 percent of the projected acreage. However, by the beginning of August that Bogale farmers completed their planned paddy acreage. Normally, Delta farmers usually finished cultivation at the end of June or the first week of July. In Labutta, there was the same story. Labutta farmers planned to cultivate 444,904 acres of paddy including in Hinggyi and Pyinsalu sub-townships. However, the delayed monsoon certainly slowed down the Labutta farmers, and up to July about 75 percent of the projected acreage was tilled. Labutta is expected to fulfill its projec ted acreage by the end of August, that is, two months later than usual. Delta farmers usually employ direct sowing (broadcasting) as well as transplanting methods to cultivate paddy. The unusual monsoon pattern affected the farmers employing the conventional direct sowing method. Farmers who had completed the land preparation began sowing seeds, However, due to lack of monsoon rain farmers had to sow again. This forced farmers to buy more seeds, hence

MONSOON RAINS DELAYED AND ON THE LOW SIDE

Chart One Bogale Monsoon Rainfall (2010)
50 45 40 35

Days or Inches

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 June Rai ny Days Jul y

Two years after the devastating Cyclone Nargis, farmers in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta experienced unusual rain patterns during the months of June and July 2010.The unusual weather pattern came in the form of delayed monsoon, folllowed by ithe intermittent rains. The monsoon rains usually start in the southern parts of Myanmar, including the Ayeyarwady Delta, by the middle of May, sometimes a little earlier than that. By the month of June the monsoon is in its full swing all across the Delta. Men and women, machines and animals swarm the fields and toil day after day to prepare land for paddy cultivation. But, it was not the same picture this year, 2010. The monsoon in 2010 was delayed. When the month of May gave way to June and the rain did not fall, farmers across the region began to wonder. Usually rains come around the last week of May. So it is OK to start land preparation and cultivation by the middle of June at the latest. But not this year. I had only completed my land preparation by the last week of July. It was Myint Oo, from Shwebosu village, Bogale Township. The truth is that the monsoon rains did come, but they came scantily. According to the statisticsfrom the

Labutta Township severely hit by Nargis in 2008 - was also experienced the delayed monsoon. In June 2010 the raining days in Labutta was 35 percent less than the same period a year ago. July also saw less raining days in Labutta: 43 percent less than July 2009. Labutta rainfall also decreased 42 percent in June and 52 percent in July this year, compared to Chart Two the same Labutta Monsoon Rainfall (2010) periods a 50 year ago. 45 (see Chart 40 35 Two) 30
25

2009 2010

For the 2010 monsoon crop season, Bogale farmers planned to

20 15 10 5 0 June Rainy Days July June July Rainfall (inches)

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Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit

The recently cultivated paddy field in southern Bogale T ownship seen in early August 2010. Despite the delayed monsoon and intermittent rains during the crop season Delta farmers are doing fine thus far

costing them more than expected. The dearth of monsoon rains also spelled difficultiy for farmers employing transplanting method. U Naing Kyi Win explained, Little or no rains also means late cultivation for farmers using transplanting method. Transplanted seedlings need more water. Late rains delayed the growth of seedlings. Seedlings that do not get adequate rains multiply less when transplanted. So farmers need more seed. The lack of rains decreased the numerous communal grazing grounds for draught animals. The delayed monsoon meant draught animals finding less food. Sometimes they had to go far away from village to find greener grazing ground. It somewhat sacked their strength. Farmer Myint Oo explained. He went on how they managed. Fortunately, we were able to deploy power-tillers donated by FAO. The machines certainly relieved many of our anxieties. The Government and the non-governmental humanitariuan assistance community in the Delta helped farmers. The Myanma Agricultural Service helped the farmers in the Labutta District when they lacked fresh seed to sow for the second try. FAO-ERCU also helped the Delta farmers through its implementing partner NGOs. FAO and its partners had distributed an assortment of inputs such as power-tillers, quality seeds, fer-

tilizer, threshers as well as draught animals among numerious items. During the recent period of unusual weather pattern, FAO-ERCU and its implementing partners were distributing quality seed, fertilizer and draught animals as well as other livelihood assistance to the farmers in Bogale, Labutta and Pyapon Townships. In 2010, according to the Myanma Agriculture Service (MAS), the rain patterns in June and July differ slightly. For Bogale, it rained for 19 days in June and received 12.2 inches of rainfall. The next month, July 2010, saw a total of 25 raining days in Bogale while the received rainfall stood at 10.8 inches. The MAS data point out that the average rainfall for the month of June during the 10 year period (from 2000 to 2009) is 21.43 inches for a total of 22.7 raining days. The 10 year average rainfall (from 2000 to 2009) for the month of July in Bogale area is 27.8 inches for 24.2 raining days. Although rains start late and are on the low side,

the chart The Rainfall in Bogale (June & July 2010) shown below shows that the distribution of rainfall was adequate for crop growth. The figures for Labutta also depict the same picture. Despite all these, delta farmers feel confident. Myint Oo was one of them. We strived hard. The rains had been scarce in this monsoon. However, we managed satisfactorily. We were late but achieved the planned cultivation. Well, we must. Its our livelihood, after all.

The Rainfall in Bogale (June & July 2010)

3.00

2.50

Rainfall (Inches)

2.00

1.50 June July 1.00

0.50

0.00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Days

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DELTA Farmers Appreciated the System of Rice Intensification

In the monsoon season of 2009, the FAO-ERCU introduced the Farmer Extension Group (FEG) sessions through the implementing partners in Bogale Township. About 1,000 smallscale farmers participated. One food production enhancing method of FEG was the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).The SRI method enables farmers to plant paddy seed in specially attended nursery plots and transplant them later.What makes it different from other transplanting method is that seedlings could be transplanted in relatively short period (15 days). In addition, the distance between each seedling (10 to 12 inches at least) leads to much richer multiplication of tillers. A pilot plot requires less seed and is economical. We must say that the SRI method is quite beneficial to us farmers. On behalf of our village I would like to say thanks to FAO and GRET for introducing the method. The 50 year old Han Win from Shwebosu village and his friends well remembered how FAO-ERCU and its implementing partner NGOs introduced the SRI exactly one year after the Cyclone Nargis. In 2009 GRET staff came to our village. They introduced a new paddy growing technique. Its called System of Rice Intensification. We also learmed that it was FAO that initiated the project. There was a team of agronomists to our village. They stayed and assisted us in acquiring SRI method. Han Winlooked back to the previous days.He was one of the first batch of trainees. Han Win and fellow farmers participated in those sessions. We did one SRI demonstration plot and one conventional plot side by side. So farmers could actually see the difference. There was much enthusiasm for SRI from that moment. In addition to SRI, we also received FAO assistance such as seed and fertilizer. We were shown how to use fertilizer properly. Indeed, so enthusiastic were the farmers that some actually did try the SRI plots on their own immediately after the training. Win Soe from Shwebosu Village was one of them. I tried SRI on half an acre (.5 acre) just after the FEG session. I did as we were shown at the training.The output was very high. I calculated that if I planted a whole acre the yield would be 85 baskets per acre. Even this yield was affected by rodent problem. Its still much higher than the conventional plots! The only thing that could affect is the management of water levels for the plots. Flood could severely affect SRI plots. Otherwise its alright. More farmers would be following his examples in the monsoon cultivation season 2010. In Shwebosu village there were five farmers who would like to try SRI method. In Kyungalay A 46 year old Shwebosu farmer Kyaw Htay was one of them. For this season I would try SRI on four acres. Next year I hope to do more and more. It all depends on money available. And the money factor haunts us all the time. Kyaw Htay sang the virtues of SRI. We know that with SRI we need fewer amounts of seed per acre. It needs less land for pilot plots. Hence, fewer amount of fertilizer and water. So, more attention could be given to plots. Yet there are some issues to overcome. The most important of them is availability of financial resources. With a SRI acre costing from 24,000 kyats to 27,000 kyats, farmers could ill afford the cost although they know the virtues of SRI. Another issue is the availability of labor. Han Win said that if he wanted to try SRI on all of his 20 acres of land he would be hard-pressed to find the farmhands for transplantation. Compared with the conventional method of using stick in transplanting SRI method needs more careful attention so that farmhands are not interested. Kyaw Htay agrees. Finding farmhands proficient in SRI method could be somewhat difficult.They think of it as time consuming and tiresome. For instance seedlings must be transplanted individually. Then seedlings must be placed far apart, about 10 to 12 inches from each other and at shallow depth, about two inches. Deeper and they could not grow properly. In spite of these hampering issues, SRI remains attractive to many farmers. Kyaw Htay explained, SRI is undeniably a good method. No wonder more and more farmers are trying SRI. This year Kyungalay village has five SRI farmers. For next year more than 10 farmers have expressed their interest. So we will see. Gradually this method will spread in the region.

We must say that SRI method is quite beneficial to us

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Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit

Regional Coordination Center (RCC), PACT and Food Security Working Group (FSWG). The workshops explored both good and bad practices and deducted lessons-learned to inform future programming. of experience among the actual field operators and organizations. Furthermore, the organizations have achieved consensus on many key issues and respective recommendations. Although the workshops included only the DLRWG members, issues emerged concerned the overall humanitarian assistance community. For instance, the selection process of the most vulnerable beneficiaries must take into account the needs of all vulnerable individuals and different groups. such as the elders, disabled and indebted households for addressing shortterm, medium and long-term needs. The WOC has documented all these key issues and recommendations to distribute among the organizations. One WOC member, Apollo N. Arara from FAO-ERCU, advocated that such workshops should be held on a yearly basis. If an organization plans to implement a program the staff must be thoroughly informed in technical aspects. In addition there is need for raising awareness on unfelt needs, policy and good among communities. On the whole, the Experiencing Sharing Workshops were successful.

THE EXPERIENCE SHARING WORKSHOPS : A SUCCESS STORY

Beginning from March of this year the Delta Livelihood Recovery Working Group (DLRWG) conducted a series of Experience Sharing Workshops. The aim of these workshops was to share experiences acquired and to provide lessons for informed future programming. With two years experience implementing the recovery of delta livelihoods NGOs have certainly enriched themselves with diverse experiences. To organize the workshops, a Workshop Organizing Committee (WOC) was formed,comprising of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO),

The first session was convened on 19th March and focused on Agriculture and Livestock Support. A total of 14 governmental and non-governmental organizations participated. The second workshop, held in April, focused on Mechanization and Shared use of productive assets, and 9 organizations participated. A total of 14 organizations participated in the third workshop during May focusing on financing livelihoods and post harvest issues. The last workshop, focused on Fisheries, was held on 4th June ,with 14 organizations participating. Participants presented and discussed on Numerous topics under the sectoral headings that were covered during the sessions. The result was the cross sharing

FAOs Emergency and Rehabilitation Programme is made possible thanks to generous funding from the following donors:

Mr. Tesfai Ghermazien Senior Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordinator

For More Information:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAO Representation in Myanmar Seed Division Compound (Myanma Agriculture Service) Insein Road,Yangon, Myanmar (P.O. Box 101) Phone: +95-9-8602348 Fax: +95-1-641561 E-mail:[email protected]