The climate differs from place to place within the region owing to altitute
and rainfall. The southern and southeastern parts of Sagaing Division are
much drier than the northern and western parts. In the drier areas, rainfall
is least reliable. The number of rainy days fluctuates around 50 days a year.
Natural vegetation also varies with the amount of rainfall received. The
regions having less than 40 inches are usually covered with scrubs and shrubs,
while the wetter regions are covered with forests. Sagaing division has 9,003
square miles of reserved forests.
Agriculture is the chief occupation.The leading crops are rice,wheat,sesamum,
groundnut,pulses,cotton and virginia tobacco. Sagaing Division is one of the
leading produces of pulses and wheat. It accounts for 76% of wheat production
in Myanmar.
The drier region needs irrigation for cultivating crops. The Shwe Bo canal,
Ye-U canal, Mu canal and the Mahanandar tank are the major sources of water.
The proposed Mu River Project, when once completed,it could provide one
million acres of agricultural land with water.There are also plans to construct
a hydroelectric power plant at Hta-man-thi on the Chindwin River.
The islands in the rivers, after flood waters have receeded, are covered with rich alluvimum which makes the soil very fertile for growing tobacco, pulses, onions and vegetables.
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