Extreme weather: the new normal for Myanmar farmers
Recent flooding highlights the climactic challenges that upper Myanmar farmers are now facing on a regular basis.
Sagaing Region was particularly badly hit from mid-July onward. As other rivers, streams, dams and dykes also burst their banks, houses and fields were inundated, with Kin-U, Kawlin and Wuntho townships particularly hard hit.
The 7.83 inches (198.88 millimetres) of rainfall recorded at Kanbalu in the 24 hours to 9:30am on July 18 was a 20-year record, while surrounding areas recorded similar amounts. State-owned media reported that 2453 acres of summer paddy, 36,689 acres of monsoon paddy and 3147 acres of monsoon seedlings owned by 13,851 farmers in 142 village tracts in the region were underwater.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, farmers in next-door Mandalay are suffering from drought.
