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Myanmar seeks seeds, fertiliser after Cyclone Nargis: IRRI
Manila (AFP) Sept 16, 2008 Myanmar has sought foreign help for seeds and fertiliser to revive its key rice-growing region after a deadly cyclone earlier this year, the International Rice Research Institute said Tuesday. Cyclone Nargis left an estimated 140,000 people dead or missing when it swept through the Irrawaddy delta in May. The disaster has slashed Myanmar's food crop output by six percent or 1.2 million tonnes, Philippines-based IRRI said in a statement. An IRRI team visited the devastated areas on August 26-28 and held talks with agriculture officials. U San Nyunt, general manager of the seed division of the Myanmar Agriculture Service, told the delegation the country needed "more fertiliser for high-yielding varieties, improved production of high-quality seed, and fruit tree seedlings and vegetable seeds to be supplied to affected communities." The government asked IRRI for seeds of salt-tolerant rice varieties, as well as equipment to monitor salinity levels in farmers' fields and on seed farms, it added. Representatives of the UN Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation were at the meeting, IRRI said. "IRRI has more than 800 salt-tolerant breeding lines and can provide a subset of these with a set of specifications for (Myanmar) to test," IRRI scientist Abdelbagi Ismail said. "Emergency relief is like helping people who have fallen over a cliff. Longer term agricultural development provides a fence that stops people from falling in the first place," said T.P. Tuong, another member of the IRRI delegation. The delegation pledged guidance on farm management as well as to "spread the message that more access to fertiliser is needed." The delegation meanwhile warned that pests and diseases could be a major problem in the current wet season, the statement said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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