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Sittwe:Local residents are worried about their daily survival in the coming rainy season as the price of rice, an essential food grain, have been rising ahead of the paddy farming season in western Burma's Arakan State.
Prices have risen an average of 3,000 to 6,000 kyat, depending on quality, for a 50 kilogram bag of rice as rain showers have started in recent weeks in Arakan, report rice traders and residents.
The generally consumed types of rice, Eimahta and Pawsanmway, have soared in price to 15,000 and 25,000 kyat from their former prices of 12,000 and 20,000 kyat per bag of rice in the capital Sittwe.
In the townships of Ponnakyunt, Rathidaung, Kyauktaw, Mrauk U, and Munbra, a bag of lower quality rice known locally as "Sanchay" has risen in price to between 12,000 and 13,500 kyat from a former price of around 10,000 kyat. A bag of high quality rice known as "Sangree" has risen in price to between 16,000 and 18,000 kyat from a former price of around 13,000 kyat.
In Mraybon, Pauktaw, and Kyaukpru, the townships hardest hit by Cyclone Giri, a bag of lowest quality rice has risen to a price of 18,000 kyat from the former price of 12,000 kyat, and a bag of middle quality rice has risen to 20,000 kyat from 15,000 kyat.
The rice prices have also soared in the border townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw—in Buthidaung, the prices for a particular bag of Eimatha and Pawsanmway have risen up to 16,000 and 28,000 kyat from the former prices of 13,000 kyat and 22,000 kyat and in Maungdaw just 16 mile northwest of Buthidaung, the same types of rice have risen up to 20,000 kyat and 35,000 kyat respectively.
Arakan state usually faces hikes in rice prices especially during the rainy season every year. But the residents are now worried about facing higher price increases during the coming rainy season this year as the prices have already started to soar ahead of the season.
“It is very difficult to earn enough to afford a meal after a whole day work because the jobs are very scarce and the incomes are very low in our state. Now we are worrying how to live on in the rainy season as the rice prices are rising with a few showers of rains in our region” said a resident from Sittwe.
A rice trader said surging rice prices are due to the shortage of rice in the state after Cyclone Giri hit the state in October last year and destroyed many paddy fields about to be harvested.
“The current soaring rice prices are related to the shortages of rice in our state. Many paddy fields about to be harvested were destroyed by Cyclone Giri last year across the state. In the townships of Mraybon, Pauktaw and Kyaukphru, not only the fields but also the paddy and rice stores were completely damaged by the tidal surge triggered by the cyclone. Now we are facing shortages of rice and the prices have automatically gone up in our state”, said the trader.
Paddy farming can be done once a year only in the rainy season in Arakan State and the people are now worried about their daily foods during the season as they are facing soaring prices and shortages of rice ahead of the paddy farming that would normally start in mid-June, depending on the rain and last for four months for harvest.
http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2980
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