More than K9 billion required for flood prevention measures
27 Aug 19 - Source: Myanmar Times - To prevent farmland flooding, more than K9 billion will be needed to repair creeks and ditches that have silted up, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation.
Creeks and ditches that have silted up cause water levels in rivers to rise, so the ministry will repair these waterways, said ministry Deputy Secretary U Myo Tint Tun.
As of Friday, more than 550,000 acres of farmland were underwater and more than 79,000 acres were damaged by flooding in Myanmar.
Around 10,000 acres of farmland have been replanted, and it is up to farmers to continue planting in damaged farmland, he said.
"Some were flooded after being planted and some were flooded near to the harvest, so we can't calculate how much money has been lost due to the different situations," U Myo Tint Tun said.
The amount of damage to the farms caused by flooding and the possible reduction in crop yields have not been assessed yet by the ministry, he said.
Plans are also being made to improve 25 drains in Sagaing, Bago, Magwe, Yangon, and Ayeyarwady regions that flood annually, he said.
"The ministry will provide rice seed if farmers want to plant again."
The improvement projects will be started next fiscal year, and all the project plans of the ministry have been submitted to the
About 1.2 million acres of farmland were flooded in August last year, resulting in damage to about 400,000 acres, according to the ministry. – Translated
