Labourers work at a warehouse in Bayintnaung, the biggest commodity wholesale market in Yangon.

THE price of rice is expected to fall next month with the completion of the summer harvest, industry sources told Myanmar Times last week.

The Department of Agricultural Planning had planned to cultivate a 4-million-acre summer paddy this year. So far, 2 million acres have been harvested, according to department statistics.

“It is estimated that the summer paddy could reach more than 3 million acres this year in Myanmar. The majority of the summer paddy in delta regions has been harvested, but most summer paddy in hilly regions has not yet been harvested,” said the director of the Department of Agricultural Planning, adding that Myanmar is expected to produce 300 million baskets of rice this year.

He said that in Ayeyarwaddy Division alone, 1.3 million acres of summer paddy has been grown, possibly producing 98.5 million baskets of rice. In 2003, Myanmar produced 3.2 million acres of summer paddy and about 270 million baskets.

“The summer paddy in hilly regions should be harvested in June – as soon as the entire summer paddy is harvested, rice prices will fall and remain stable,” said an official from the department.

This month the price of rice soared by about 10 per cent compared with prices in March which coincided with Thingyan when many people bought rice to donate, forcing prices up about 10pc.

On the retail market, the price of high quality rice (Pawsan Hmwe) increased from about K9500 a bag (108 pounds) in March to K11,000 at the beginning of this month. The price of middle grade rice also increased from about K6900 a bag before April to K7500 at the end of April, and the price of third grade rice went up about K700 a bag to K5700 this month, Yangon rice retailers said.

“Today’s wholesale price of summer rice (only Ehmahta) costs between K3300 and K5300 a bag (108lb) depending on the quality,” said U Nyein, patron of Myanmar Rice Wholesalers’ Association.

On the wholesale market, rice prices increased slightly by between K500 and 1200 a bag, said U Zaw Zaw, a wholesaler at Bayintnaung warehouse in Yangon.

The wholesale price of rice in Myanmar’s markets ranges from K3700 to K12,000 a bag depending upon the quality, while retail prices vary according to transportation charges as well as quality, U Nyein said.

Although rice prices have increased in the past few months, they are still competitive compared to Chinese rice, previously favoured by residents of Kachin and Shan states. Now, not only are people in these areas choosing Myanmar rice over that produced in China, other border regions are also buying domestically produced rice instead of other foreign alternatives.

“People in the border areas of Thanintharyi division have started to consume Myanmar rice instead of Thai rice mainly because of the difference in price,” U Nyein said.

He said now that the summer paddy is beginning to arrive on the market, rice prices will return to normal, adding that the price increases have been a side effect of efforts to guarantee supply.

Of the four main varieties of rice grown in Myanmar – Ngasein, Meedone, Ehmahta and Kyaukgyi – only Ehmatha is cultivated in the summer because it does not take as long to grow as other varieties.