Rice Production, Income Diversification and Rural Development in Myanmar
type: CreativeWork
description: Among agricultural produce, rice is still dominating the Myanmar's agriculture sector, as it is a staple food crop and a principal export crop. Although previous market reforms and major investment in the agriculture sector have led to an increase in rice production, there have been challenges, such as limited availability of loans, poor infrastructure, application of farm inputs and the quality of seeds. My thesis comprises three essays that, together, fill the gaps in the existing literature on most of the key issues affect rural development in Myanmar. The first essay analyses the source and extent of potential productivity and efficiency gains, and investigates how Myanmar can increase its rice productivity. The data used in this thesis is taken from 634 farm households in the main rice growing regions, specifically Ayeyarwaddy, Bago and Sagaing. The stochastic production frontier and technical inefficiency models are applied to capture which farm-specific factors determine efficiency gains. The findings show that rice production in the selected regions can be improved through farm workers with better education, agricultural extension services, and efficient fertilizer and pesticide application. This essay also analyses the impact of land reforms and market reforms on rice production in Myanmar and Vietnam. Although there are differences between the two countries, especially in terms of government policy and institutions, both share some similarities when it comes to rice production. Vietnam is a more efficient rice producer than Myanmar, due to its better irrigation system, use of better quality seeds, higher application rate of fertilizers, and more intensive cropping. There may be many lessons for Myanmar to learn Vietnam's to increase the quantity and quality of its rice production by applying certified seeds and efficient use of fertilizers, and using sufficient irrigated water. The second essay examines the impact of credit policy on rice production in the…
abstract: Among agricultural produce, rice is still dominating the Myanmar's agriculture sector, as it is a staple food crop and a principal export crop. Although previous market reforms and major investment in the agriculture sector have led to an increase in rice production, there have been challenges, such as limited availability of loans, poor infrastructure, application of farm inputs and the quality of seeds. My thesis comprises three essays that, together, fill the gaps in the existing literature on most of the key issues affect rural development in Myanmar. The first essay analyses the source and extent of potential productivity and efficiency gains, and investigates how Myanmar can increase its rice productivity. The data used in this thesis is taken from 634 farm households in the main rice growing regions, specifically Ayeyarwaddy, Bago and Sagaing. The stochastic production frontier and technical inefficiency models are applied to capture which farm-specific factors determine efficiency gains. The findings show that rice production in the selected regions can be improved through farm workers with better education, agricultural extension services, and efficient fertilizer and pesticide application. This essay also analyses the impact of land reforms and market reforms on rice production in Myanmar and Vietnam. Although there are differences between the two countries, especially in terms of government policy and institutions, both share some similarities when it comes to rice production. Vietnam is a more efficient rice producer than Myanmar, due to its better irrigation system, use of better quality seeds, higher application rate of fertilizers, and more intensive cropping. There may be many lessons for Myanmar to learn Vietnam's to increase the quantity and quality of its rice production by applying certified seeds and efficient use of fertilizers, and using sufficient irrigated water. The second essay examines the impact of credit policy on rice production in the…
author: Aung, Nilar
language: en_AU
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:07:24Z
provider: Australian Catholic University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian Catholic University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/151959