Before a new season of paddy harvesting begins, prices have plummeted, according to farmers from Mudon Township, Mon State.
“Paddy price is dramatically plunging, [and there are no buyers]. Besides the plummeted price, there are no fresh deals now, and [we are] struggling since we rely on farming. The situation is like there is a seller but no buyer” Nai Ngway Htay, a farmer from Nine Hlone village in Mudon Township.
In Mudon Township, the price for high-quality aromatic rice is 1,000,000 Kyat per 100 tins [each tin is equivalent to 9 gallons] while the price for a lower-quality aromatic rice is 700,000 Kyats and the price drops further to 500,000 Kyats for a rice type known as Shwe Ta-Soute.
“The paddy price in our region is fluctuating. Rice millers are only grinding the remaining. Since there are few rice buyers, the rice millers are not buying any paddies at the moment, ” said Nai Thet Nine, who is a rice dealer and the owner of a grain mill from Nyung Kone village in Mudon Township.
According to a statement released by the Protection of the Farmer Rights and Enhancement of their Benefits Association on October 15th in 2019, the standard price of paddy rice that has a 14 percentage of moisture level and is without any grains, sands or wizened grains is 500,000 kyats per 100 tins weighing 46 pounds.
“The measurement of 100 tins of such rice in our region weighs 48 pounds,” Nai Thet Nine added.
Mon State farmers noted that the daily wage is getting higher along with the quality of paddy rice, so there should not be a single price for paddy.
Last year, the paddy price shot up to 17,000,000 Kyats per 100 tins of aromatic rice paddy and 12,000,000 Kyats for newly harvested paddy rice. Some dealers even came to buy paddy rice at threshing grounds.
