抄録
Rice production in Myanmar rapidly increased during the first half of the 1990s as a result of an expansion in planted area of irrigated summer rice, due to the introduction of small-scale Chinese pumps. This study attempts to clarify the actual picture of this technological change, focusing mainly on socio-economic aspects, based on intensive fieldwork conducted in a village near Yangon city in October 1999. The major conclusions are as follows. 1) The cost of production of summer rice was almost the same as that of monsoon rice (US$90/ton at the farm gate), which is sufficiently competitive in the international market. However, summer rice production uses much more current inputs and is more labor-saving in nature, which makes it unsuited to the factor endowment in rural Myanmar. 2) Landless agricultural laborers were severely impoverished due to the scarcity of off-farm job opportunities and the low wage rate. This fact, rather than the notorious rice procurement system, is a more serious constraint to development because it does not allow the Government to raise the rice price through its export liberalization. 3) Implementation of land reform, which is one practicable remedy to overcome this problem, may relatively be easily accomplished under the current condition of extremely low land price compared to operational surplus (land rent). The problem that might arise in this case of lack of draft animals and other capital goods among agricultural laborers can be overcome by taking appropriate measures to promote the formation of efficient rental markets. 4) Because capital shortage is obviously one of the major constraints for small farmers, it is recommended that the institutional agricultural credit system should be strengthened through foreign aid.
