Myanmar: Cyclone Hit Rice Fields Replanted

The world Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced that nearly all the rice fields in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta that were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May have been replanted.

Aid agencies had feared that failure to sow rice in most of the affected areas in time for the main crop in the second half of the year would create a long-term dependency on food aid in a country that used to be the world's largest rice exporter.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in June that Myanmar's overall rice crop would be smaller than expected after the May 2 cyclone, which flooded paddy fields with sea water, damaged irrigation systems and destroyed seed supplies.