October 27, 2022
Local residents fear a shortage of rice as they are unable to harvest the already ripe rice due to ongoing fighting in Kyaukgyi and Mone Townships in the Karen National Union-administered area of Nyaunglebin District in Bago Region.
Fighting between local KNU forces and military council troops resumed after the military coup in the area. As the fighting continued, residents were forced to seek safety elsewhere, leaving their rice fields unattended. Currently, most of them are unable to return and harvest their rice crop, which is already ripe, and the rice yield is low, said one resident.
“Many of the residents fled the war. They do not dare to return and harvest their rice. They have been fleeing the fighting all through the rainy season. In their absence, the cattle have invaded the rice fields and eaten them. And we had a drought this year. That’s why the rice harvest is very low,” the resident told the Karen Information Center (KIC).
Livestock have also invaded the unharvested rice fields and damaged the fields. Some of them are near areas where clashes have occurred, making it risky to return and harvest the rice, according to the residents.
Residents also said that some people have started selling the harvested rice without drying it in bags, and that farmers are having difficulty growing a second crops.
“We used to harvest traditionally with our hands. But now some rice fields are far away, so we have to use threshing machines to finish quickly, put the harvested rice in bags and sell it raw. We have to do it quickly. Normally, peanuts are sown after the rice fields are harvested. As I just said, they dare not harvest rice near the roads, let alone grow peanuts. People are facing this situation almost everywhere at the moment,” a resident of Natthankwin village told KIC.
Residents of villages in the KNU Brigade (6)-administered area on the Thai-Myanmar border have also been cultivating corn with capital from Thai companies, but they have been forced to stop working on their farms because of frequent clashes in the area and because military council troops have laid land mines in the corn fields. As a result, farmers are having difficulty repaying their debts, locals said.
Fighting continues in villages in the KNU-controlled area, leading to the displacement of residents. According to KNU reports, there are currently more than 300,000 displaced people.
Sent by KIC.