Floods deal devastating blow to farming in Karenni, Shan states

Local aid groups and agriculture specialists are warning of imminent food shortages in Myanmar’s war-torn Karenni and Shan states after flooding that has impacted thousands of acres of farmland since last month. Agricultural production in war-ravaged Karenni State is likely to decline sharply relative to previous years due to the floods’ occurrence during the monsoon rice growing season, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group (KHRG). “Rice production could fall 30 percent or more, because we now have only two months left for growing monsoon rice,” a KHRG representative said. “It could also disrupt the timing for cultivating dry season rice in the coming year,” he added. Crops, especially rice, grown in Karenni State account for more than half of the state’s food supply, with the cultivation process typically lasting four months from planting to harvesting. Severe flooding, one of the cataclysmic effects of Typhoon Yagi across Southeast Asia, caused the Moebye Dam and Balu Chaung River to overflow in southern Shan State just north of Karenni State, turning low-lying villages and fields into lakes, local sources said. The dam is a vital source of surface water that farmers use for irrigation in southern Shan and Karenni states during the dry season. Flooding has impacted the lives of some 40,000 internally displaced people in Karenni State and neighbouring Pekhon Township, southern Shan State according to the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC), a governing body established by the state’s anti-junta resistance groups in 2023. The IEC has reported 26 confirmed deaths from the recent flooding, including three that occurred in Pekhon Township. Heavy rainfall accelerated the flooding of at least 40,000 acres of farmland in Karenni State and Pekhon Township, the IEC said. Waters are still high in parts of Pekhon Township and Loikaw Township—the site of Karenni State’s administrative centre—with floods already having damaged or contaminated at least 1,000 acres of paddy fields and fish farms, local sources said. “I have no idea when we’ll be able to plough our soil, even for dry season rice. My paddy field is still flooded,” a farmer living near Moebye, Pekhon Township said. Even in areas where flood waters have receded, farmers now face the daunting task of clearing the massive layers of mud and silt deposited in their paddy fields. It will be necessary to make the soil surface level before planting to produce paddy efficiently, a local farming specialist said, but this may delay cultivation in flood-impacted areas, which would in turn delay dry season planting in the coming year. “This is a challenging time for farmers. They are running out of time. If they cannot manage this situation, they will likely have much lower rice yields,” the specialist said. The heavy rains have also affected the cultivation of upland rice, lowering yields in the areas of Karenni State where resistance forces are strongest, according to local sources. “Civilians in conflict-affected and flood-hit areas are at risk of food insecurity in the coming year if the production of rice is insufficient,” the farming specialist noted. The massive discharge of water from the Moebye Dam overflow also caused dangerous flash floods in nearby villages and fields, according to local people. “This year is worse than the last one. All roads, villages, and farmlands have been submerged in the floodwaters. We’ve had to use tractors to evacuate,” a man living near Moebye said. The recent flooding will also deepen the hardships felt by farmers in the area due to poor economic conditions and proximity to violent conflict, local sources said. “Farmers have even had to borrow money to grow paddy because of how fast prices have gone up in our area, and now we’re on the brink of famine,” the Moebye resident said. Severe floods have also damaged thousands of acres of farmland in Mandalay and Bago regions as well as the Naypyitaw Union Territory in recent months, according to military regime-controlled media.

Floods deal devastating blow to farming in Karenni, Shan states

Heavy rains and a major dam overflow brought on by Typhoon Yagi have damaged fields and delayed cultivation in Karenni State and neighbouring parts of southern Shan State, bringing the area to ‘the brink of famine’, according to locals

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