MYANMAR (6 June)
Harvesting of 2005 secondary crop, normally accounting for 15 percent of aggregate product, has been completed. Planting of the main season rice crop will start with the arrival of the southwest monsoon rains. The outcome of this crop, which is harvested from October, will crucially depend on the performance of the monsoon, which normally arrives in the country in early May. This year’s monsoon was delayed. Up to 20 May, the rainfall was 51 percent below normal on a national average.
The aggregate 2004 paddy production is estimated at a record high of 23 million tonnes. The wheat and coarse grains harvested in November 2004 yielded 107 000 tonnes and 753 000 tonnes, respectively. The 2005 paddy output is expected to be higher to that in the previous year. Reflecting steady increases in paddy production in the last several years, the overall cereal supply situation is satisfactory in the country with a net export of cereals projected at some 240 000 tonnes in 2005/06.
Some 200 villages in the southern coast relying on fishing were hard hit by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Since March 2005, WFP tsunami response activities have been focusing on the construction of water ponds, access roads, bridges, houses and dykes, among other infrastructure. Some 709 tonnes of food have been distributed in the Delta area and 358 tonnes in Thai border area, including Food-For-Work activities which are nearing completion by end of June 2005.