The Irrawaddy Basin and Burma

Abstract

Rice, the staple food of the Burmese people, is grown in all parts of the country from the coastal plains to mountainous regions at altitudes of 1200 m. For all but short periods Burma has been a significant exporter of rice for more than a hundred years and during the last decade has usually exported about 0.5 million tons annually. Rice has dominated the livelihood and fortunes of people living in the Irrawaddy Delta since the middle of the nineteenth century. Lower Burma, consisting of the Irrawaddy, Pegu and Rangoon Divisions, is still the main rice producing area today, growing 64 per cent of the total crop (ADB, 1985) and most of the deepwater rice.