IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2021) 12-2

Research article
erd

Rice Varietal Assessment for Climate Change Adaptationfrom a Socioeconomic Point of View: A Study in Myittha
Township, Myanmar
SHWE MAR THAN*
Department of Participatory Knowledge Management, Advanced Center for Agricultural
Research and Education, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Email: dr.shwemarthan@yau.edu.mm

YIN NYEIN AYE
Department of Participatory Knowledge Management, Advanced Center for Agricultural
Research and Education, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar

YIN THANT
Department of Participatory Knowledge Management, Advanced Center for AgriculturalResearch and Education, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar
Received 31 December 2020

Accepted 9 July 2021(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Myanmar is the second most vulnerable country in the world to the effects ofclimate change, with agriculture highly vulnerable. This study was conducted to determine
farmers’ knowledge on how to respond to the impacts of climate change, to identify climateresilient adaptation technologies in rice farming, to also identify the desired characteristics ofchosen rice varieties, and to estimate the cost and benefits for different rice production
systems for the chosen varieties. The study was carried out in Myittha Township, a major
rice-growing area in the middle of Myanmar. Most of the rice areas are irrigated. Primarydata were collected by conducting a socio-economic survey. Descriptive analysis and costbenefit analysis were applied. More than 95 percent of the farmers adopted an adaptation
strategy of using quality seeds. A change to the time of sowing, was favored by only 27% ofrespondents. About 41% of farmers grew Manaw Thukha rice variety, followed in popularity
by Ayeyar Min (33.62%), and Shwe Manaw (20.49%) varieties. The traits of rice variety
most desired were high yield and high marketability. The farmers practiced two different
methods of rice establishment: direct seeding and transplanting, and grew in both monsoon
and summer seasons. In monsoon, direct-seeded Ayeyarmin achieved the highest BCR (1.75)
whereas the Manaw Thukha variety yielded the highest BCR in summer (1.70). The study
area is an irrigated rice-growing area and has not yet suffered much from climate change
impacts on rice production. This is despite a trend to scarcity of rainfall, which implies that
improved irrigation facilities will comprise an essential adaptation strategy.
Keywords farmers’ perception, knowledge, climate change adaptation, rice variety,irrigation facilities

INTRODUCTION
In many empirical studies, climate change is manifest in various forms, such as changes intemperature and rainfall patterns, more frequent extreme climate events (e.g. floods, typhoons,droughts, storms, etc.), unusual timing of seasons, and sea level rise (Apata et al., 2009; Deressa etal., 2011; Mertz et al., 2009; Smit et al., 1996; Thomas et al., 2007; Vedwan and Rhoades, 2001).
Climate change adaptation is one policy option to reduce the negative consequences of the climatechange. Adaptation to climate change is a critical issue for many developing economies. The issue
is particularly important to agriculture, as this sector which relies substantially on climate-sensitive
resources, is highly vulnerable to climate change. Rice remains the staple food in Myanmar, andMyanmar is the world’s sixth-largest rice producing country. Rice is the country’s most importantⒸ ISERD7IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2021) 12-2

crop and is grown on over 8 million hectares, or more than half of the arable land. Rice is also themost important crop for millions of small farmers who grow it on millions of hectares throughout theregion, and to the many landless workers who derive income from working on these farms. Empiricalstudies assessing the rice varieties best suited for climate change adaptation are limited in theMyanmar context.

Fig. 1 Climate change scenario maps for Myittha Township with RCP 4.5 scenario
Previously, monsoon began in mid-May and ended in mid-October whereas it now begins at theend of May and ends at the end of September. That is, the monsoon season has shortened by about
40 days (Aung, 2019). A longer pre- and post-monsoon period has been observed, and may result in
extreme weather such as thunder, lightning, hailstorms and thunder showers. To reflect probableclimate change impacts on the study area, the climate change scenario maps were developed for
rainfall patterns for a Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario (Fig. 1). A RCP 4.5
is a scenario that stabilizes radiative forcing at 4.5 W m−2 in the year 2100 without ever exceedingthat value (Thomson et al., 2011). These scenario maps convinced the continuation of climate change
in future.
OBJECTIVESThis paper makes a general investigation of a rice variety to determine its suitability for climatechange adaptation from a socioeconomic point of view. However, the specific objectives of the study
are as follows:- to determine farmers’ knowledge of responses to the impacts of climate change on agriculture,- to explore location-specific climate resilient adaptation technologies in rice farming,- to determine the desired characteristics of any rice varieties chosen, and- to estimate cost and benefits of different rice production systems for the chosen varieties
METHODOLOGY
Selection of the Study Area
Myittha Township, which is located in Kyaukse District, Mandalay Region, central Myanmar, wasselected as the study area. It is situated at 21◦ 25̍ North, and 96◦ 8̍ East. It is a major rice growing areaand most of the rice grown is irrigated. The survey was conducted in Yit Kan, Yakhaing Gyi, Ku
Phyu and Ngar Su villages in 2018. The total number of respondents was 122. Data collection wascarried out using a simple random sampling method and by the use of a structured interview schedule.
For data analysis, descriptive analysis and cost and benefit analysis were calculated using
Microsoft office excel and the software, STATA (Version 14). Mean, minimum, maximum, standard
deviation, frequency and percentage values were applied to reveal the indigenous knowledge offarmers on how to respond climate change impacts, the preferences of farmers of traits for suitable
rice varieties, and any climate adaptation strategies practiced by farmers in the study area.
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Enterprise Budget
The following equations were used to do enterprise budgeting and to estimate the benefit-cost ratio;
Costs for cash and non-cash material inputs, hired labor, family labor and interest on cash, werecalculated to obtain the total production cost.
Return above variable cash cost
= Total gross benefit – Total variable cash cost
Gross margin= Total gross benefit – Total variable cost
Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)= Total gross benefit / Total variable cost
Return per unit cash cost
= Total gross benefit / Total cash cost ×100
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Characteristics of the Farmers in the Study Area
The average age of the respondents in the study area was 51.69 years. The youngest age was 19 years
and the oldest age was 80 years. The range of farming experience was from 0 to 53 years with anaverage of 24.75 years. Average length of schooling of respondents was 4.66 years, with a range
from 0 (illiterate) to 20 years (tertiary qualifications). Respondents had an average 5.69 acres oflowland farming area. Land ownership ranged from 0 (landless) to 50 acres. The average uplandfarming area possessed by the respondents was 2.44 acres. The minimum and maximum uplandownership areas were from 0 to 15 acres. Farmers also had 0.39 acres of orchard area on average. In
general, the respondents can be described as elderly with low (primary) formal education but withhigh levels of farming experience.
Table 1 Demographic information of respondents in the study area
Item

Unit

AverageSDAgeYear

51.69 (19-80)

12.18

Farming Experience

Year24.75 (0-53)

12.29

Education (Schooling years)Year

4.66 (0-20)

3.10

Ownership of Lowland

Acre

5.69 (1-50)

5.92

Ownership of UplandAcre

2.44 (0-15)

3.70

Ownership of Orchard

Acre

0.39 (0-8)

1.25*Values in parentheses represent range.

Indigenous Knowledge of Farmers to Respond Climate Change Impacts
Seventeen agricultural practices, based on farmers’ indigenous knowledge of climate change
adaptation, were identified in the survey. More than one quarter of respondents (25.41%) havechanged varieties grown and another 25 percent have changed crops, for example, by now growing
summer rice instead of sesame. Changed cropping systems and crop management practices werepracticed by 17.22% of farmers. Other indigenous responses to climate change impacts were throughchanging sowing time (6.56%), growing varieties of shorter duration (5.74%), using chemical inputs
differently (4.92%), applying FYM (3.28%), using better quality seeds (3.28%), using undergroundwater (2.46%), practicing the line sowing method (2.46%), changing cropping patterns (1.64%),
using irrigation water (1.64%), growing more marketable varieties (1.64%), practicing crop rotation(0.82%), growing low-cost crops (0.82%), changing seeds yearly (0.82%) and the willingness toadopt organic farming (0.82%) (Fig. 2). In the study area, it can be assumed that farmers are awareof climate change and are actively adapting to changes.

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Climate Resilient Adaptation Technologies
Adapting to climate change requires that the correct measures, utilizing appropriate adjustments andchanges, are made to reduce negative effects.

Fig. 2 Indigenous knowledge of farmers to respond climate change impacts (n=122)
Table 2 Climate change adaptation strategies practiced by farmers
in Myittha Township (n=122)
No.

Adaptation Strategies

Frequency

Percent (%)

1Using quality seeds

115

95

2

Using fertilizers

108

89

3

Using Farm Yard Manure (FYM)

98

81

4

Changing crop types

98

81

5

Changing varieties

96

79

6

Practicing crop rotation

92

76

7

Changing cultural practices

91

75

8

Using traditional varieties

43

36

9Using underground water

38

31

10

Changing sowing time

33

27

Table 2 ranks ten climate adaptation strategies, practiced by farmers in the study area. Almost
all respondents (95%) used quality seeds. Most were using fertilizers (89%), using farm yard manure(FYM) (81%), changing crop type (81%), changing variety (79%) and practicing crop rotation (76%)
followed by using traditional varieties (36%), making use of underground water (31%) and changes
to sowing time (27%). Results show almost all respondents were using quality seeds as a climatechange adaptation strategy. This reflects that seed is the basic and most vital input of agriculture.
Without high quality seed, other inputs and better technologies remain worthless.
Desired Characters of the Rice VarietiesⒸ ISERD

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Rice variety traits and characteristics such as high yield, market price, eating quality, seed quality,
pest and disease resistance, good milling recovery and resistance to climate change were found to bewhat respondents prioritized. Most farmers (76.47%) desired high yielding varieties with high market
price, whereas good eating quality, good quality seeds were the desired characteristics sought by46.93%, 44.16% and 41.05% of farmers respectively. Fewer farmers (22%), (12.31%) and (10.95%)
prioritized pest and disease resistance, good milling recovery and resistance to climate change (Fig.
3). From this it can be assumed most farmers in the study area have not suffered severely from theimpacts of climate change to this point.

Fig. 3 Farmers' preference on rice variety traits (n=122)
Cost and Benefit Analysis of Rice Varieties
Cost and benefit analysis of selected rice varieties in both summer and monsoon was made and theresults are presented in Table 3. Farmers practiced two different rice establishment methods:
transplanting and direct seeding and grew throughout both seasons. Only the Manaw Thukha ricevariety was grown, using both methods, in summer, with other varieties not grown in summer using
only direct seeding. The Manaw Thukha rice variety exhibited a higher Benefit Cost (BC) ratio (1.70)
when transplanted compared to the direct seeding method (1.64), in summer. Also in summer, GW1
gave the highest BC ratio (2.16) of all rice varieties grown after transplanting. GW1 is a Chinese
hybrid rice, and although it showed the highest BC ratio, few farmers grew it. It is a newly introduced
variety whose plant characteristics and yield potential are not well known. In monsoon season, theShwe Manaw variety gave the highest BC ratio (1.65) of all rice varieties using transplantation, andthe Ayeyar Min variety gave the highest BC ratio (1.75) when the direct seeding method was used.
Table 3 Cost and benefit analysis of selected rice varieties by establishment methodsⒸ ISERD

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CONCLUSIONAccording to the survey results, farmers in the study area appear to have a good knowledge, anddeveloped local strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change, evidenced by practices such as
using quality seeds, using fertilizers, employing FYM and changing crop types in their efforts to copewith the impacts of climate change. Switching to high yielding varieties is mostly favored. During
monsoon, direct seeding methods yielded higher BC ratios for all varieties. In summer, farmers did
not practice direct seeding method much because they are able to irrigate to manage their nursery.
Thus, irrigation facilities become essential infrastructure for successful climate change adaptation
strategies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to gratefully acknowledge the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for
their technical and financial support, not only for the Project of Capacity Development of Yezin
Agricultural University, but also for financial support for this study. We also would like to thankYezin Agricultural University for giving us an opportunity to do research. Special thanks toGovernment officials and staff from the Department of Agriculture (Myittha Township) and thefarmers in the study area for their keen cooperation, support and participation throughout the study.
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