The Role of Water Resources Development in Paddy Cultivation of Mandalay, Pyin 00 Lwin and Kyaukse Districts, Mandalay Division

Paddy has cultivated in Central Myanmar by means of irrigation since the period of ancient Myanmar Kings. Agriculture sector of Myanmar has changed in various aspects since practicing of market oriented economy after 1988. Developments of water resources were reflecting in expansion and intensification of paddy lands as a distinguished spatial change. In addition, introduction of modem farm inputs and liberalization of paddy marketing are major contributors of recent agriculture sector development. Of these changes, this paper tried to analyze the role of water resource development in paddy cultivation from the case study of three districts located in northern pan of Mandalay Division with following questions. (1) How does source of water used in paddy cultivation change during last 15 years and how do these changes differ among the townships located in the study area? (2) How do newly developed water sources effect on the paddy cultivation? (3) Do different water sources effect on the paddy yield? Data used in this study were derived from the Myanma Agriculture Service of Mandalay Division. Simple statistical analysis methods were conducted by using data derived at township level to be able to answers above questions. It is found that irrigated water derived from old dams and rain water and river water were mainly used for paddy cultivation until the early I990s. However, water derived from new dams, river pumping stations, and tube wells was played an important role in the expansion and intensification of paddy lands during last decade. The ways of water resources development spatially differ based on the geographical background within the study area. Since irrigation could control the water requirement of paddy, the yield per acre is quite differ among different mode of water resources using in paddy cultivation