ABSTRACT
Burma is and has been an economy dominated by a single crop, paddy. Paddy production employed two-thirds of the work force of the nation and constituted 62 percent of the total export earnings of Burma. The rice economy of Burma is dependent upon complex factors both within and outside the control of the central government. The Burman peasantry has remained relatively passive politically since achieving independence, in large part a result of the continuing adequate supply of rice, as well as certain cultural factors. Urban Burma has been more volatile. The government by 1980 had set aside seventy-two townships in Lower Burma in which to improve yields through the expansion of the highyielding varieties. This statistic should cause some concern. Government policies depend on heightened national supervision and centralized control over the agricultural sector, centralization that must at least be partially responsible for the poor performance of Burma in this important sector.
