On the other hand, for those crops which lie outside the objectives of the state (in other words
crops that have no role to play in the avoidance of social unrest or the maintenance of state
enterprises), the government has been quite indifferent. Particularly surprising has been the
government’s low interest in pulses which have become a most important export crop for Myanmar.
Even in the major pulse-producing areas, the main task of government officials has been to take care
of the politically important crops, especially rice.
The same tendency can be observed as regards some of the crops, profitable for the farmers,
which have been grown for the domestic market. Examples include tomatoes in the Inle Lake area,
and chilli production in Kyaukse. In these areas, too, the agricultural administration have focused
mainly on rice, whether with respect to the expanding the area under rice and or achieving an
increase in yields, and have paid less attention to the cultivation of tomatoes or chilli.
In fact, the agricultural development of Myanmar since 1988 has owed a lot to self-sustaining
growth pioneered by the private sector, in crop categories that have fallen outside the main concerns
of the government. In this respect, the role of the government has been minimal. Another notable
feature is that development has not been supported by improvements in productivity. In particular,
the success of pulses was due to the existence of a area that had formerly lain unused during the dry
season. In this sense, the development pattern has been a typical example of the “vent for surplus”.
The Myanmar government has been highly fortunate in that Myanmar has had room for
development under the “vent for surplus” process. At the same time, however, a challenge will
inevitably occur once the development potentiality of this path has been exhausted. Needless to
say, opening up a development path through improvements in productivity would have been a far
more difficult task.
Finally, mention must be made of recent changes in rice policy in Myanmar. There can be no