Research underway for high-yield paddy quality seed

The Department of Agricultural Research and Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) are jointly undertaking high-yielding paddy research to achieve quality seed that is commercially valued in the international market.
Research is underway to obtain Kayinma Hteiksaung, Tunpu, Ngaseinyakyaw, and 90-day short-matured paddy seeds.
A demonstration event was held on 18 May at a paddy research farm in the central division of the Agriculture Research Department to transfer knowledge of efficiently storing Tunpu and 90-day paddy seeds and the benefits of quality seeds to farmers.
Dr Tin Htut, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, officials from the department, MRF and farmers were present at the demonstration event.
The federation aims to achieve two million tonnes of rice exports in the 2024-2025 financial year (April-March), bagging US$1 million.
Myanmar primarily exports rice to European countries. The federation will make efforts to export quality rice to China, Indonesia, and the Philippines at reasonable prices, according to an official of the MRF.
The federation aims to achieve 2.5 million tonnes of rice export in the previous FY 2023-2024, generating earnings of $1 billion. However, rice exports fell short of the target with only 1.6 million tonnes worth $845 million.
The Central Bank of Myanmar’s monetary policy to control export earnings impeded rice exports, hurting exporters financially. The El Nino weather condition also hampered rice export, affirmed the Myanmar Rice Federation President.
Myanmar exported 2,261,203 tonnes of rice and broken rice to foreign trade partners in the past 2022-2023 FY (April-March), with an estimated value of $853.472 million. — NN/EM