(1) 3,479,450 acres in Ayeyarwady Division were distributed among 518,167 holdings; 99.34% of total
holdings area were household-based land holdings. About one half of all land were small farms under
5 acres in size, and only very few 0.05% were large farms extending over 50 acres in size, and
only very few 0.05% were large farms extending over 50 acres. Among special land holdings, 69.24%
were 50 acres and above in size.
(2) 90.71% of all holders were males, and only 9.29% were females. 96.88% of all holders had formal
schooling indicating their capability to adopt improved techniques of production and to be responsive
to effective extension services. 73.72% of holders worked permanently on holdings. 40.97% of land
holders had other sources of imcome.
(3) 55.45% of all holdings employed paid workers, 53.94% employed accasional workers, and only 14.91%
employed permanent workers. A large portion of labour input was supplied by farm families. Among paid
workers, the number of occasional workers was as much as 4 times greater than that of the permanent
workers. Special holdings however employed a comparatively larger percentage of hired labour; paid
workers 61.54%, permanent workers 53.85% and occasional workers 70.51%.
(4) A larger percentage of special land holdings used machinery and equipment than did
household-based land holdings. 47.44% of special land holding used water pumps, 20.51% used
tractors, 15.38% used generator/ motors, 29.49% used power tillers, and 3.85% used other farm
machinery. Among household-based land holdings, only 2.17% of household-based holdings could use
power tillers. Large farms had the advantage to adopt modern farm machinery.
(5) A comparatively larger percentage of special land holdings used agricultural chemicals, 84.62%
used inorganic fertilizers, and 67.95% used organic fertilizers. The same is true with the use of
pesticides and HYV seeds; 65.38% used pesticides and 69.23% used HYV seeds. As in the case of capital
inputs, large farms benifitted from the use of new technical knowhow and modern methods of cultivation.
(6) 16.82% of land holdings used irrigation. Rivers, and Creeks were the important sources of irrigation;
they provided irrigation to 65.98% of household-based land holdings.
(7) For all land holdings 86.74% of the total holding area were paddy land; 86.80% of household-based land
holdings area and 78.03% of special land holdings area were paddy land.
(8) 51.44% of total productive are operated by household-based land holdings, and 41.38% by special land
holdings were under fruits and nuts. For household-based land holdings, the second most important crop sown
was other permanent crops.
(9) 87.14% of all land holdings used draught animals. Regarding cattle and buffaloes, 56.03% of household-based
holdings owned cattle, and only 14.61% owned buffaloes. The extensive use of amimal power seemed to reflect
that further efforts were needed to modernize the existing mode of agricultural production.
(10) The average size of an agricultural holding was 7.21 acres. The average size of an agricultural household was 5. About one in every 2 household-based holdings had other sources of income. The average number of parcels per household-based land holding was 1.9, and the average size of a parcel was 3.84 acres. The average cultivation intensity was found to be 1.19. The proportion of land left fallow was about 0.01.
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