Recommendations

The economy of Myanmar is still predominantly agricultural. Agriculture accounts for nearly 40% of GDP, and provides employment to about 65% of the total work force. The agricultural sector besides meeting domestic food requirement,it also produces a sizeable surplus for export. The recent increase in paddy production has been achieved mainly through higher yields rather than expanded acreage. The current drive of the goverment is to ensure self-sufficiency in food-production, guarantee raw materials for local agro-based manufacturing industries, and if possible to increase the export volume of agricultural produce.

Although Shan State is not a major rice producing region of the country, it is endowed with temperate weather suitable for growing flowers, vegetables, temperate fruits, citrus fruits, tea and thanat-leaf trees. Majority of the holdings were land holdings a little over half of which is paddy land. To increase paddy production, expansion of acreage and/or better use of HYV seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery and equipment will be needed. Most of the land holdings were household-based and were of size less than 5 acres. Only a few of these holdings can use labour-saving farm-machinery and the majority continued to use the traditional fram implements. Ways and means need to be found for providing farmers with improved new strains of HYV seeds, farm machineries at affordable prices, and for inducing farmers to adopt new land-use techniques as double or multiple cropping and growing summer crops. Irrigation seems quite necessary for agricultural production in Shan State. Nearly half of the household- based land holding had to use irrigation and more irrigation will be needed if agricultural production is to be increased by double or multiple cropping and growing summer crops.The 1993 census of agriculture collected information on agricultural holdings and on selected agricultural activities. Effort were needed to collect additional information on

(1) Cost of Cultivation and Production, and
(2) Farm Income and Expenditure.
(3) On-Farm and Off-Farm opportunities for income generation.

The information on farm income and cost of cultivation would prove extremely useful in drafting and implementing agricultural development programmes.

In order to have a complete picture of the agriculture sector in Shan State,there is an urgent need for additional information on the following charcteristics.

(1) Means used to transport agricultural produce from the holdings
(2) Area of land provided with drainage facilities,
(3) Production data of home-base small scale productive activities like wood products (handicraft) and fish products from agricultural land holdings
(4) Use of agricultural chemicals 


			GO TO HOME
			GO TO BACK