In April – the first month of the 2016-17 fiscal year, Myanmar earned US$13 million from rice exports.

However, drought across the country due to El Niño is raising concerns.

In the previous fiscal year when Myanmar suffered from floods that destroyed vast areas of rice plantation fields, 1.4 tonnes of whole and broken rice was exported. The volume was 400,000 tonnes below the level exported in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Ninety per cent of Myanmar’s rice is destined to China.