"Myanmar’s most important crop – grown on roughly half of its arable land – appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from the coronavirus pandemic. When the country’s first COVID-19 cases were reported on March 23, harvesting had begun for the summer rice crop; three months later, as efforts continue to keep the coronavirus under control, planting has begun for the monsoon crop. Overall, the agriculture sector, which accounts for 22 percent of GDP and 38pc of employment, had been “resilient”, the World Bank said in its June Myanmar Economic Monitor, and is expected to grow by 0.7pc for the year. This is mostly due to strong production of crops, such as rice, and beans and pulses, with COVID-19 inflicting a much greater impact on export-oriented agriculture sub-sectors, such as livestock, fisheries and fruit production. A World Bank survey in May found that while agriculture firms were the most likely to have experienced cash-flow shortages and reduced access to credit due to COVID-19, just 6pc of them were forced to close. In contrast, 12pc of manufacturers, 15pc of retail and wholesale businesses and 39pc of service companies shut their doors. But the impact of the virus remains a threat, says the Myanmar Rice Federation. It has asked the government to take a range of measures to strengthen the sector during the pandemic and beyond, including mitigating the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding, along with increasing financial and technical support. The government should ensure farmers have greater access to low-interest loans for buying inputs in order to ensure higher yields, the MRF said. It also urged greater flexibility on repayments so that farmers can wait a few months after the harvest, when overseas and domestic demand usually rises, rather than sell their crop at the same time to pay off debts, which pushes prices down. “We want to work with the government to create a mechanism to [maintain price stability]; the situation requires smart intervention from the government,” said MRF chair U Ye Min Aung..."