Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addresses opening ceremony of talks on development of agriculture and socio-economy of farmers through inclusive irrigation system
NAY PYI TAW August 26
Opening ceremony of talks on development of agriculture and socio-economy of farmers through inclusive irrigation system was held at Agriculture and Rural Development Training School of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation in Zeyathiri Township, Nay Pyi Taw Council Area this morning addressed by Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Also present were SAC members, Joint Secretary Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo, Union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chairman, the Nay Pyi Taw Command commander, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, directors general, rectors, farmers who are leaders of region/state water utilization teams and members and officials.
In his opening address, the Senior General said SAC is developing the agriculture sector that is the core of a developed and prosper country with abundant supply of food through the adoption and implementation of objectives and policies.
Myanmar is rich in water resources. The country has four major rivers Ayeyawady, Chindwin, Thanlwin and Sittoung flowing through various part of the country from north to south and their many tributaries.
They are carrying about 876 million cubic feet of waterannually into the sea. The existing 245 dams and 210 waterworks on them can utilize about 2.3 percent of the said volume.
The country has a total sown acreage of about 33.2 million acres for multiple crops. About 25.517 million acres are rain-fed, irrigated and river-water fed fields. The country puts about 15 million acres of monsoon paddy and about three million acres of summer paddy annually.
A total of 6.71 million acres are irrigated fields or over 20 percent of the total sown acreage. If triple cropping can be carried out on the said irrigatedfields by adding rice plus beans, rice double cropping, sunflower plus rice, sesame plus rice or rice plus other crops according to the choice, there will be a significant change in the socioeconomy of farmers.
Water supply is of vital importance in crop and rural development. Hence the government is prioritizing the irrigation projects. Agriculture and water are indivisible. Crops cannot survive without water. MoALI is implementing irrigation projects dams, diversion dams, sluicegates, feeder canals, regulating facilities, electrical pumping stations, groundwater programs, hydropower projects, solar power irrigation facilitiesfacilities, regulating underground water storages, through various means. Farmers should develop the farming sector through the effective use of water resources provided by the irrigation projects.
Water resources are shrinking throughout the world due to climate change. As water is an essential element for life, effective means must be applied to cut loss of water and the sustainability of water resources.
The task calls for inclusive participation as individual efforts are not enough. Many of the attendees here are using irrigated water. Everyone who uses water knows its value. Strain, soil, water and technology are the core of success for any agriculture or breeding activity. Of the quality strains, fertilizer (feedstuff in breeding), water and technology, the most important element is water. No crop will thrive without adequate water supply. Israel is the best in the world in water utilization. The country needs to effectively use the human resources trained in Israel.
Water utilization engineering should be broadly taught at the schools for effective water use. So farmers should join hands in systematically using the water released from dams in the countryAccording to expert calculation, depending on soil condition average water need for the success of an acre of rice is five acre feet or 1.35 million gallons.
Means should be sought in applying technology-based irrigation system especially in summer or the dry season to prevent water loss. For example, depending on soil and water condition, Sprinkler or Drip Irrigation should be applied to use water in the most effective way. Instead of using bowls or pails, showers should be used in bathing.
Continuing to employ furrow irrigation currently used by most farmers wastes a large volume of water. As lack of maintenance of ditches between farms, main channels and their branch channels wastes precious water, it is necessary for all to participate in maintenance tasks.Similarly, to minimize the loss of water due to seeping along water supply channels, linings must be placed along the channels by investing based on financial resources. Compared with earthen canals, lining canals can reduce the loss of water by 20 percent.
As cheap materials like polyethylene plastic sheets can be used for linings recently, water supply channels can belined within a short period and water losses can be minimized almost completely. It is necessary to utilize ways and means to minimize water losses depending on kinds of crops being cultivated and types of soil being used.
Therefore, measures are being taken for the formation of Water User Groups-WUGs for respective irrigation canals and the Water User Association WUA to enable the groups to cooperate and to strengthen them extensively by encouraging respective farmer groups to participate in irrigation water management for the durability of water supply canals and facilities and the development of water supply systems.The aim of establishing Participatory Irrigation Management PIM is to set the fine practice of cooperation between relevant departments and water user farmers by formation of the group and the association.
The system can bring about benefits like prevention of water disputes as farmers themselves can participate in the system and expansion of irrigation areas by minimizing water losses and utilizing irrigation water beneficially. If the fine practice of cooperating unitedly by forming farmersfarmers’ associations in irrigation systems can be developed, farmers will be able to cooperate not only in the agriculture sector but also in tasks for their socio-economic development.
It will be more beneficial for farmers by formation of associations of farmers in implementation of agricultural production activities through the benefitsharing farming system. I would like to point out that the government has allocated Ks - 230 billion out of Ks-400 billion for the National Economic Promotion Fund to cultivate 850,000 acres of summer paddy and 500,000 acres of green gram effectively and successfully through the benefit-sharing farming system as of the upcoming cultivation season.A sustainable and inclusive business community will emerge from participation of farmers in water user groups/association and cooperation with non-governmental economic and social organizations and other partner organizations through the groups and the association.
Training courses and forums are being organized for enabling water user farmers to overcome their difficulties through cooperation and negotiation, expansion of their knowledgeabout irrigation water management technologies and successful implementation of the participatory irrigation management system and this ceremony is being held by inviting leaders of water user groups from irrigation networks from respe-ctive state and regions were invited to participate in these discussions in Nay Pyi Taw.
As the government has been fulfilling the need for agricultural water supply tasks constantly for the development of the agriculture sector, farmers are required to cooperate for promotion of socio-economic lives of farmers and the farming sector in line with the term participatory irrigation management.In conclusion, the Senior General urged farmers to exert efforts extensively in the entire country with their united strength by participating in the irrigation tasks and to contribute to building a prosperous country with abundant supplies of food, water and other essential products in the interests of individuals and the country.
Then, Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Tin Htut Oo reported to the Senior General on matters related to the conference. Afterwards, documentaryvideo about activities for promotion of the agriculture sector and socio-economic lives for farmers through the participatory irrigation management system and the Senior General and participants posed for documentary photographs.Then, the Senior General and party cordially greeted group leader farmers from the entire country and inspected exhibition booths of activities of water user groups, the irrigation system of Ngalike Dam, the training school for development of irrigation technologies, tools and equipment used for underground surveys of the geology section, disaster preparedness
for emergencies at dams and pumping water with the use of solar pumps of the Department of Irrigation and Water Utilization, development of farms by systematic mechanized farming and supplying water to farms by using the rotational water sprinkling system of the Department of Mechanized Farming, the production of natural fertilizers by the Myanmar Rice Federation in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, pumps, water spraying equipment, farming tools and machines, solar pumps, head mist sprinklers,water supply flimpipes (drip), rootzone mini-sprinklers, manufactured by Myanma Farming Machinery Factory (Insein), model plantations of crops, high and low mobile solar water pumping systems, demonstration of the use of the global water flow probe, placing linings for respective types of canals, supplying water by installing sluice gates and monsoon paddy cultivation by irrigation.
The union ministers and responsible officials conducted the Senior General and party around the booths and demonstrations. The Senior General asked questions on the reports, discussed them and gave necessary instructions.
The round-table discussion was aimed to assist water supply systems for agriculture through systematic management of water resources in Myanmar and effective utilization of irrigation water for cultivated areas with a minimum waste, to upgrade the water management system to a management system with cooperative participation of water users, and to turn water users groups (WUGs) into water users associations (WUAs) to assist the processes of passing water management to farmers. It was also aimed to ensure good practices of actively cooperation in WUGs and WUAs, to assist tasks of promoting important role of water users groups in water management and knowledge on water management, distribute means to earn more income with associations connecting the firm markets as the associations will become strong through coordination among the farmers who grow same type of crops and harvest them at the same time, to hold talks on improvement of farmers’ socio-economic life and development of agriculture sector through forming WUGs and WUAs with the cooperation of farmers. Leaders of WUGs from regions and states and member farmers, 200 in total, participated in the talks and 250 farmers virtually.
The WUGs’ leaders and their member farmers participating in the round table discussion will also attend courses on leadership and agricultural research, those on irrigation water management and farmers’ role and crops and use of land.