Crop diversification and food security under irrigated and rainfed farming systems in the dry zone, Myanmar | |
| Author | Ei Ei Mon |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-15-04 |
| Subject(s) | Cropping systems--Myanmar Irrigation farming--Myanmar Food security--Myanmar |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Regional and Rural Development Planning |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. RD-15-04 |
| Abstract | The research analyze d the crop diversification of farmers under irrigated and rainfed farming systems, the influencing factors of crop diversification, food security focusing on food self - sufficiency and food accessibility and the impact of crop diversification on food self - sufficiency and food accessibility of irrigated and rainfed farmers. In order to collect the required primary data, a household survey was carried out in Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay region in the Dry Zone Myanmar in 2014. The data was collected from 97 households, 48 households form irrigated village and 49 households from rainfed village through a standardized questionnaire of household surveys. Key informant interview and group discussion were also conducted to collect the primary data. The secondary data such as maps, journal articles and reports, were also collected from DOA, Department of Agriculture, Kyaukpadaung Township , Township's Office and internet sources. The research focused on quantitative analysis. The degree of crop diversification of irrigate d village was significantly higher than that of rainfed village, 0.74 and 0.64 respectively. It indicates that in the irrigated village, the availability of irrigation favored farmers to grow not only rice cultivation but also other profitable crops such a s onion, pulses and oil seed crops. It is also noted that in the rainfed village, lack of access to irrigated water, unfavorable weather condition and irregular rainfall are the major constraints to diversify crop cultivation . With regard to the influencing factors of crop diversification, the analysis shows that soil fertility, landholding size and watching TV programs related to crop diversification were statistically correlated with crop diversification index. In the rainfed village, crop diversification was influence by contact with extension workers (times per year), non - farm income and market sources. Regarding food self - sufficiency and food accessibility, the research revealed that irrigated farmers were more self - sufficient from production than rainfed farmers mainly due to rice, staple food crop production. The average calorie intake per capita from farm production was 2185.16 kcal/day in irrigated village and 308.35 kcal/day in rainfed village. In the case of food accessibility, the analysis showed that irrigated farmers were able to access food more than rainfed farmers by relying on farm income because net farm income of irrigated farmers were significantly higher than rainfed farmers to cover food expenditure of households. By relying of net far m income, although 77.1 % of farmers were accessible to food in the irrigated village, only 34.7% of farmer had food accessibility in rainfed village. When the impact of crop diversification on food self - sufficiency and food accessibility was analysis by using correlation analysis, it is found out that crop diversification does not have impact on both food self - sufficiency and food accessibility of under rainfed farming systems because there was not rice cultivation for food self - sufficiency and also farm income was not adequate to cover food expenditure of households. However, with regard to irrigated village, although crop diversification does not have impact on food self - sufficiency, it influences food accessibility of irrigated farmers. Based on the findings of this study, few recommendations are suggested to improve food security in terms of food self - sufficiency and food accessibility by promoting crop diversification under irrigated and rainfed farming systems. |
| Year | 2015 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. RD-15-04 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Thapa, Gopal B. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Soparth Pongquan;Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2015 |