Agricultural Marketing Information System in Myanmar

Agricultural Marketing Information System in Myanmar
—U KYAW MYINT*
Introduction
A
griculture sector is dominant sector in Myanmar
economy. the country’s population is estimated to be
51 million of which 75 percent of population live in rural
area and their livelihood mainly rely on the agriculture and
livestock farming.
2. Myanmar has unique diverse ecological conditions and
for the forest-clad mountain,  plateau, rivers, and vast plains.
Based on the agro-ecological zones, the country can be
divided into four major regions : delta region, central dry
zone region, coastal region and hilly region. Among the
regions, delta region and coastal region are located in the
Lower Myanmar and the remaining regions in Upper
Myanmar. There are three seasons: the hot and dry season
lasting from mid-February to mid-May, the rainy season
from mid-May to Mid-October and the cool season from
mid-October to mid-February.
3. During the rainy season, the southwest monsoon is the
major source of rainfall for the country. In addition to that,
it has not only many altitudes but also a wide range of
agro-ecological zones. thus, a large number of food and
cash crops are grown and the same crop can be produced
in different season. The best-known example is production
of green gram in central dry zone region in the rainy season
and in delta region in the cool season. The clearest example
is production of tomato, cabbage and cauliflower in the
monsoon season in highland area and in the cool season in
lowland area. Thus, major crops are available in the market
year-round.
4. Agricultural marketing remained regulated by the state
under the centrally planned economic system lasting about
a quarter to century. In 1988, the government adopted the
market oriented economic policy, gradually withdrawing
from direct involvement in agricultural marketing. Since
then,  private sector comes to a play a larger role compared
to previous era.
5. The government monopolized rice marketing during the
centrally planned economic system, which lasted from 1962-
63 to 1987-88. In 1988, the government has been steady in
its direct involvement in rice marketing. Presently, the
domestic marketing of rice is partially liberalized, while
rice export is still in the hands of government.
Major Agricultural Produce
6. In Myanmar, prominent agricultural produce in terms of
domestic marketing as well as export marketing are rice,
maize, wheat, pulses, culinary crops, oilseed crops,
vegetables and fruits which are summarized as follows :
7. Rice : Rice is the staple food for 51 million people of the
country. In addition to that, surplus of rice is exported to
obtain foreign exchange earnings to some extent. Thus, rice
is the most important crop to provide the growing demand
of domestic utilization. The surplus of rice is exported and
the export volume in 2001-2002 was 1 million metric ton.
8. People in Myanmar consume rice not only as staple food
for daily diet but also rice-based traditional snack such as
vermicelli, rice cake, rice noodle and sticky rice etc. The
rice consumption level in Myanmar is quite high, estimated
200 Kg. Per year. Generally speaking, rural people tend to
consume more rice compared to urban dweller. The annual
income threshold at which consumers start substituting
higher quality and more varied foods for rice is estimated
at round US$ 1500. This income threshold has not yet been
reached in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar,
the Philippines and Vietnam. Thus, rice is designated as
national crop in Myanmar to highlight its great  importance.
9. In domestic market, the demand of rice is regarded as
relatively price inelastic. That means demand does not
change very much in response to price change. According
to the market reconnaissance, even though the rice price
goes up, consumers do not make significant reduction in
quantities consumed. By contrast, if the rice price goes down,
consumers can shift from the low quality of rice to good
quality one depending on the individual income and
preference.
10. In the domestic market, if the rice price starts to increase,
there is a tendency that quality of rice demanded by
consumers is also on the increase in the short term. The
reason is that some consumers in urban areas expect further
increase of rice price and try to purchase more than normal
consumption volume to secure the family requirement.
11. For the country as whole rice is surplus. However, central
dry zone region, hilly region and Tanintharyi Division in
coastal region located sourthern part of the country are not
sufficient in rice. Thus, rice from surplus area is marketed
to deficit area.