The ministry planned to grow over 15.29 million acres of monsoon paddy and over 2.61 million acres of summer paddy, in 2018-2019 fiscal year, said Dr. Aung Thu, Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation. Till December, 2018, more than 15.08 million acres were put under monsoon paddy, achieving 98.61 per cent. The ministry held seed exhibitions, carry out the issuance of certificates for new paddy strains and the recommendations for export and import of paddy seeds. The ministry has grown 7,137 acres of paddy for the seed production. It produced 5,805,620 baskets, according to the news coverage by the State-owned newspapers about the ministry’s three-year tenure.More than five million rural households are engaging in around eight million hectares of paddy growing areas, said the Union Minister last year. Myanmar has a lot of good prospects for paddy and fishing. Currently, the agriculture and livestock sector accounts for one-third of GDP, two-thirds of employment and one-third of foreign earnings. More than 70 per cent of the total population have to rely on rice and fish as major farm products for their income and survival, he added.Giving encouragement to farmers for the production of high-quality products through agriculture, animal breeding, fish breeding and paddy-fish farming system, would help support the implementation of the country’s goals such as the poverty alleviation, rural development and nutritional development.In order to ensure local food sufficiency and reduce the poverty rate, the Agriculture Department has planned to carry out the extended growing of high-quality crops and industrial crops.
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