|
YANGON - AUTHORITIES in Myanmar have lifted a ban on rice exports imposed after Cyclone Nargis devastated swathes of crucial agricultural land in the southwest delta, an official said on Thursday.
Myanmar banned rice exports after the May 2 and 3 cyclone, which left about 138,000 dead or missing and wiped out 85 per cent of rice seed stocks in the delta. More than 2.4 million people were affected by the storm.
'Rice exports were suspended for a while after Cyclone Nargis hit to make sure there was enough rice for local consumers,' a senior officer at Myanmar Rice Millers' Association told AFP.
'Export permission is now granted to companies if they have rice for export and buyers. We cannot give details on how many companies will get export permits as companies are still applying.'
Myanmar was not a major exporter of the staple grain, but the cyclone had a massive impact on fertile land crucial for domestic food stocks.
In Aug, the United Nations said US$51 million (S$75.56 million) would be needed to rehabilitate rice paddies in the Irrawaddy Delta.
Foreign aid has made its way down to the affected areas, but many farmers have been unable to replant ruined fields, either because they are struggling with housing or they have not replaced working animals lost in the cyclone.
When rice prices soared earlier this year amid global supply concerns, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh clinched deals with the military government to buy Myanmar's small surplus, but then the cyclone hit and exports were suspended.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962 and is under US and European sanctions because of human rights abuses and the long-running detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
| 
