Disease outbreak destroys rice crops in Dooplaya District

Throughout 2011, villagers in Dooplaya District suffered from disease outbreaks on their rice crops.  Both upland and paddy rice farms were affected by a disease that caused the rice to change colour prematurely and die only a short while after planting.  Villagers were uncertain about the cause of the outbreak, but many believe that climate change is playing a major role.

Villagers are worried that their farms will not produce enough yields to feed their families.  Saw Dah Poe, a local farmer from Dooplaya District said, "In the past, we would occasionally have diseases like this that would affect the rice but I have never seen a disease outbreak like this before."

This year, the color of the rice leaves changed to yellow only two months after they were planted.  It looked like they were ready to harvest but later, they all dried out and were damaged.  Farmers don't know  what the exact cause of this disease was and they are worried that their farms will not be able to produce enough rice for their livelihood this year. 

He continued, "This year, we have had more rain and more frequent floods. In many places, there are 200-300 farms that still need to be burned to remove the remaining foliage from the land, but it is too wet and therefore farmers cannot prepare the soil for planting.”

Natural disasters exacerbated by changes in climate and weather patterns such as pest and disease outbreaks are increasing in frequency every year in many places across Karen State. Moreover, unknown pests and diseases that villagers have never seen before are also appearing.

For these reasons, farming is becoming increasingly unreliable for villagers as their food security is threatened.  Thus many local people are being forced to slowly change their livelihoods from sustainable agriculture to more cash-oriented economic activities in order to generate income. Thuleikawwei