Rice is their basic means of economic support, and it is the main occupation for personal consumption and export. The rich soil also supports sugarcane, mustard, tobacco, and various fruits and vegetables. Fish is an important part of their diet, especially for those living near the coast. Meat is rarely eaten due to its outrageous cost and their vegetarian tendencies. It is a daily task for a whole Burmese family to go out into the fields to work.
Mothers work with their babies, while the older children accompany their grandparents.
Cattle and buffalo are raised to draw the heavy wooden plows and very little modern equipment is used. Oxen and water buffaloes are far more common than tractors. The Burmese farmers live in villages among trees or along roads or rivers leading into the Ganges Delta. The wealthier people often live in sturdy, mahogany homes that are raised off the ground and have plank floors and tile roofs. Those with lower incomes may live in thatched roof, bamboo houses that have dirt floors.