MRF calls for government intervention to regulate rice market

19 May

 


The Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) called for government intervention, including regulation with policy and laws, subsidies and exploration of markets, in a bid to promote the rights and benefits of farmers, according to a recent press release from MRF.

 


To tackle problems being faced by farmers by the recent price drop and difficulties, MRF members have been traveling to farms to purchase summer paddy. However, they are limited by storage capacities to dry the rice, as well as by logistics problems, coupled with power cuts.

 


As exports through border gates are plummeting, the private sector’s sole efforts cannot deal with this. Government intervention is needed, and MRF has already forwarded requests to the government.

 


Last month, Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) declared it would purchase long-grain rice with 90-day yields which have no demand in the market at the set price of K19,500 per bag starting from 8 April.

 


The MRF had urged merchants, millers, agents, private companies, and MRF members to buy paddy at the basic rate, if the paddy met the prescribed criteria of having 14-per-cent moisture content and a fixed percentage of impurities, such as sand, weed, and small stones. Members were also urged to purchase paddy if the market price falls below the basic price, the federation stated in a press release. Rice trade to China through the Sino-Myanmar border trade channels was halted in October, 2018 as China began cracking down on illegal goods, leading to steep drops in rice exports to China and a stockpile of some 500,000 tons of rice at Muse gate.

 


The drastic plunge in rice exports through the border trade resulted in some 2 million tons of rice being stockpiled in the market, according to the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders Association. Over 1.3 million tons of rice and broken rice were exported to foreign countries during the seven months of the current fiscal year, which is a significant drop of 800,000 tons, compared with the corresponding period in the last FY, according to MRF.

 


Myanmar shipped 3.68 million tons of rice to foreign countries during the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year, which was a record amount for the past 50 years.—GNLM (Translated by Ei Myat Mon)