FARMERS in Myanmar planted 16.9 million acres of monsoon paddy up to October 20, exceeding the government’s target for this year by 0.5 million acres, a senior agricultural official said last week.

U Hla Kyaw, director of the Department of Agricultural Planning under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, said the final acreage could be higher as some areas are still being planted.

He said government was expecting 1.18 billion baskets of paddy, or a yield of 71 baskets an acre, from this year’s monsoon crop.

“But it is too early to predict production,” he said.

According to figures from the department, Ayeyarwady Division – the country’s main rice-growing area – has achieved its target of 3.6 million acres, while plantation goals have been exceeded in Rakhine State and Bago, Magwe and Sagaing divisions.

As the population of Myanmar has grown, the government has set higher targets for monsoon paddy acreage – 13.4 million acres in 2003, 14.3 million in 2004 and 15.4 million in 2005, the latter producing 1.08 billion baskets of paddy.

A basket of paddy weighs about 21 kilograms (46 lbs).

Monsoon paddy is mainly grown from June to September, but the season varies from region to region and depending on the date on which monsoon starts.

According to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology under the Ministry of Transport, rain is likely to persist in Myanmar until the end of December due to the unusually high frequency of storms in the Bay of Bengal, which are at their highest level in 28 years.

According to rice traders in the town of Phyar Pone in Ayeyarwady Division, unusually high rainfall last year cut production of monsoon paddy by about 25 percent in the area.

U Hla Kyaw said worries over similar shortfalls this year have prompted the implementation of a program throughout the country to use machinery to achieve rice cultivation potentials.