|
YANGON: Myanmar’s biggest business organization has taken some
steps to ensure sufficient rice supply at home, initiating
inter-agreements with traders in four rice- producing divisions and
state for the move, a local weekly reported Sunday.
The rice traders, who signed the agreements with
the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(UMFCCI) on the normal rice supply within the country, were from
Yangon, Mandalay and Magway divisions and Kachin state, The Voice
said, quoting the UMFCCI.
The signing would also help block smuggling of
rice to border areas, the report said.
According to official statistics, in the fiscal
year of 2007 to 2008 which ended in March, Myanmar grew 8.1 million
hectares of paddy, generating 30.02 million tons of rice.
The country’s per capita rice consumption
stands at 510 kilograms (kg) per year for rural people, and at 408kg
for urban people. The annual consumption of rice by the entire
country reached over 17 million tons.
Myanmar’s principal crops are paddy, beans and
pulses, oil crops, cotton, sugarcane and culinary crops.
-- Xinhua
|
