Nay Pyi Taw dam helps boost summer paddy plans
Nay Pyi Taw authorities are planning a 50 percent increase in the area of land set aside for summer paddy growing this year, according to an official from the region’s agricultural department. U Tin Oo Kyaing said the department is aiming to plant over 15,000 acres of summer paddy, up from just over 10,000 acres last year. The Sin Tay dam in Tatkon township – will be able to provide more water for cultivation this year, which U Tin Oo Kaying said was responsible for the rise in acreage. More than 160,000 acres are used for paddy in the rainy season, but in the hot summer farming depends on irrigation, which allows less than a tenth of that area to be used. Proximity to the dam partly determines yield, he added. Those fields furthest away provide only 70 or 80 tins per acre (one tin holds nine gallons), and those closest up to 140. The average is between 90 and 100 tins, said U Tin Oo Kaying.
