Practiced in Deep-Water Areas of Bago Region in Myanmar
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Trop. Agr. Develop. 63(1):38 - 46,2019 Information A Special Rice Transplanting Method, Cut-Stem Transplant (A Sit Phyat), Practiced in Deep-Water Areas of Bago Region in Myanmar Yu MON 1, Yoshinori YAMAMOTO 2, *, and Mie Mie AUNG 1 1 Yezin Agricultural University, Yezin, Naypyitaw District, Myanmar 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan Abstract Of the 7,000,000ha of cultivated rice in Myanmar, submerged and deep- water areas account for 13.5% of the total area. Therefore, for cultivating submersion resistant varieties, the use of deep water- adapted cultural practices and/or the construction of drainage and flood protection infrastructures need to be undertaken to provide greater resilience from flooding especially in the delta region (Ayeyarwaddy, Bago and Yangon). The use of the cut-stem transplant method of rice production is practiced in Zee Pin and Ywa Houng villages (deep-water areas) situated in the Thanatpin Township, Bago Region. The method originated in Zee Pin village and was discovered accidentally when farmers observed root outgrowth from stem cuttings. At present, it is also practiced in Ywa Houng village in the Thanatpin Township. The seeds of the deep-water rice variety, Pawsan, are directly seeded in May after the start of the monsoon, and the elongated stems are cut at about 30cm above the soil surface in September when the seasonal water starts to recede. The stem-cut seedlings are about 100cm long and then, are brought by boat to the field where they are to be transplanted. Transplanting is done by women using wooden forks (Kauk Side Doke), placed between the first and second elongated internodes, to place the cuttings. Harvesting occurs around mid-December. Although the farmers believe that the yield from such a method is superior to the direct seeding method, further investigations are required to gain a clearer understanding of the benefits of the former method. Key words: Bago region, Cut-stem transplant, Deep-water area, Myanmar, Pawsan, Rice cultivation ecosystem in Myanmar (Table1). Introduction In contrast to this five-zone classification, Matsuda Rice is grown on over 7,000,000 ha in Myanmar, (2009) classified the rice-growing areas in Myanmar into which represents more than half of the available arable four agro-ecological zones. These are the ‘Delta Zone’, land. The rice ecosystems here include lowland (rain- such as occurring in the Ayeyarwady, Yangon and Bago fed and irrigated), submerged, deep-water, upland or regions, the ‘Coastal Zone’, the ‘Central Dry Zone’ and Taungya (upland field with slopes), and sea water intru- finally, the ‘Mountainous Zone’. This categorization is sion areas (Rice Division, 2016). Kyaw et al (1977) sub- based on soil topography, annual rainfall, agricultural sequently classified the deep-water areas in Myanmar land use and administrative boundaries. The author into shallow-water, medium deep-water and deep-water described how high-yielding varieties (HYVs) replaced areas as follows. The shallow water area is one with less local varieties after the introduction of the Green than 50cm in depth, while medium depth is 50-200cm Revolution technology in the mid-1970s’ to early 1980s’. and the deep-water area is over 200cm in depth. In terms Although HYVs replaced almost half of the paddy fields of the production areas of the rice ecosystems of Myan- in the delta region, the remaining zones were still be- mar, lowland accounts for 68% of the monsoon-cultivated ing cultivated, using local varieties. The replacement areas while submerged and deep-water areas occupy by HYVs is not possible throughout the complete delta 13.5%, with drought-prone areas making up a further region because some places are affected by floods, and 12.9% and the remainder (5.6%) being occupied by an up- so intermediate-type varieties are impossible to grow. land ecosystem, Taungya and salt water intrusion areas Owing to rainfall and resultant flooding patterns, (Rice Division, 2016). The importance of the submerged drainage and flood protection infrastructures had to be and deep-water areas is obvious when it is considered installed in the delta region (GRiSP, 2013). The Myanmar that the two make up the second largest rice-growing government is using the following methods to protect crops from flood damage; construction, rehabilitation, Communicated by K. Irie the operation and maintenance of embankments, dikes, Received Apr. 20, 2018 polders, drainage channels and sluice gates along the Accepted Jul. 11, 2018 main river system in the delta region (MOALI, 2016). * Corresponding author [email protected] However, there are still deep-water areas here not ame- Mon et al.: A special rice transplant method 39 Table 1. The cultivated area in 7 ecosystems in relation to and adapted method in accordance with flood conditions water conditions in Myanmar in 2015-16. in the Bago region. The cut-stem transplant method of Ecosystem type Rice cultivated area (ha) deep-water rice is practiced here. Usually, transplanting Lowland 4,279,087 is done with intact seedlings (seedlings with attached Submerged 533,857 roots) which are considered to be very important to Deep-water 306,134 absorb water and the necessary nutrients from the soil Drought prone 802,248 before seedling establishment (Yamamoto et al., 1978). Taungya 189,774 However, this transplant method is applied to seedlings Upland 97,495 without root growth. The purpose of this survey was to Sea water intrusion 10,046 Total area 6,218,641 examine the efficacy of the cut-stem transplant method [Source] Rice Division 2016 (A Sit Phyat) of rice growing practiced in the deep-water area of Thanatpin Township, Bago Region in Myanmar. nable to such methods. Thus, although the rice varieties Methods mostly grown in the monsoon season are HYVs such as Manawthukha, Sinthukha, Ayeyarmin, Shwewahhtun, Research sites Sinthwelatt and Kyawzeya, local varieties belonging to The research was conducted in the villages of Ngasein, Meedon and Hnankar are still being grown Zee Pin and Ywa Houng in the Thanatpin Township (Rice Division, 2016). (TS) located in the Bago Region. These two villages There are several conventional rice crop establish- are situated about 10km south and 21km south east of ment methods practiced throughout the world, the most Thanatpin, respectively (Fig. 1). commonly of which are direct seeded and transplanted rice. However, there are some locally-used crop estab- Interview methods and the collection of meteoro- lishment methods that are dependent on the peculiarities logical data of the local land situation and weather conditions. Dry Three farmers who had extensive experience in the seeding is fairly common, but transplanting or double cut-stem transplant method were questioned to explore transplanting is sometimes practiced in deep-water the history of this method in Zee Pin village in May 2017. areas (De Datta, 1981). Double and triple transplanting In Ywa Houng village, interviews with farmers were con- are practiced in the flooded areas of Indonesia (Noorsy- ducted in three phases to develop a clear understand- amsi et al., 1984), Vietnam (Puckridge, 1988) and India ing of this particular method, in the period August to (Singh et al., 2004). Likewise, there is a locally applied December 2016. In total, nine farmers were interviewed Fig. 1. Map of the study site. 40 Trop. Agr. Develop. 63(1)2019 about their reasons for using this method, what was Characteristics of water condition for rice cultivation in involved in land preparation, the raising of seedlings, the the research sites effects of changing water depths in the fields, cultivation The average rainfall distribution of Thanatpin for methods and resultant yields in comparison to other rice the ten-year period from 2007-2016 is shown in Fig. establishment methods. 2. Total annual rainfall here was around 3,300mm per To describe the rice-growing environment in the annum. Generally, rainfall starts in May with the onset research sites the following parameters were used. The of the monsoon. The intense rainfall months are June, rainfall (mm) and rainy days in a 10-years average, last July and August and generally, flooding occurs at that year’s (2015) and the current year’s (2016) rain falls that time. Of these months, July has the most intense rainfall occurred in the Thanatpin Township area, with data from and rainy days. After August, the rainfall decreases the Thanatpin Township Agriculture Office were used. and generally, finishes by November. According to the Moreover, information on the area of rice cultivated in results obtained in interviews, the field water in Ywa each ecosystem in the Thanatpin area was sourced from Houng is around 11cm at the beginning of June and the said office data. around 120cm from July to August. The water starts to recede in September when it is around 60-70cm in depth. Results However, the deepest water in Zee Pin village is about Rice cultivation in relation to water depth in the 150cm. Thus, deep-water areas in Thanatpin can be clas- research sites sified as medium-deep areas under the Kyaw et al (1977) Bago is situated at latitude 17o20’N and longitude classification as previously mentioned. 96o28’52”E and is 18m above sea level, 68km from Yangon (Fig 1). Thanatpin is situated at 17o12’42”N and The history of the cut-stem transplant method in Zee Pin 96o18’11”E and is 9m above sea level situated beside village the Bago-Sittaung canal (Fig 1). These two are lowland The cut-stem transplant method started in the areas and are included in the Sittaung delta region. 1960s’ at Zee Pin village and was first used by U (Mr.) Here, flooding occurs frequently during the monsoon Ba Chaw of the Mon tribe.