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The El Nino weather phenomenon, forecast to be the strongest in five hundred years, which is striking Myanmar this year, will bring down the country's agricultural yield and impact food security, said a noted Myanmar meteorology and hydrology expert Tuesday.
U Htun Lwin, retired director general from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology of Myanmar and also the founder of Myanmar Climate Change Watch Tun Lwin Foundation, told Xinhua in an interview that the powerful El Nino is expected to end in June.
However side effects will last for three months till September, delaying the fall of monsoon.
"The country's agricultural sector will be affected by extremely high temperature and water shortage, which will lead to lower yield than previous years. Even though the irrigated farms could resist the bad weather, most of the farms around the country may suffer from diseases due to the high temperature," he added.
Low yield can lead to food insecurity which will bring about rise of commodity prices. The people at basic level may suffer these disadvantages, he said.
A very high Ultra-Violet(UV) index has reached a critical point during these days. Temperature in some townships in the central part of the county may exceed the historical record of 47.2 degree Celsius.
At present, over 30 townships show a higher record temperature than previous years. The temperature in some townships have exceeded 50 degree Celsius during these days, he added.
About 2,000 villages are facing the worst water shortage in history, forcing Myanmar authorities to fight against El Nino and seek ways and means for risk reduction.
The threatening El Nino had drawn attention of the parliament with the House of Representatives(Lower House) adopting an important proposal urging the government to take risk mitigation measures against ill-effects of El Nino in February.
The expert said that La Nina, another whether phenomenon will follow El Nino in the country in October, November and December and will continue in the first six months of 2017.
Though the country will get relief from extreme hot weather, La Nina will take the risks of over coldness, over raining and then flooding and landslide will also take place.
The country must take awareness of storm due to La Nina as Myanmar has already experienced entering of storms in previous La Nina years.
Myanmar was affected by Cyclone Komen in late July and early August in 2015. Nearly 470, 000 hectares of paddy fields were affected and almost a quarter of a million livestock were killed, including 23,000 hectares of shrimp ponds, especially in Rakhine state and Sagaing region.
The country's export will also be impacted by El Nino as the agricultural yield will go down this year, according to local agricultural experts.
"Farmers need to be supported by government for the availability of seeds, finance and technique to resist high temperature," U Min KoOo, Secretary of Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchant Association, told Xinhua.
Agricultural products are majority exported items , the export value of which reached about 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2015-2016.
(APD)
