NAYPYIDAW, March 25 — Win Zaw is among five members of a Myanmar family who fan out on motorcycles most nights from their small village in the rice-growing Irrawaddy delta to queue at fuel depots that might yield a few jerry cans of diesel for his tractor.
"Some even sleep there overnight. This is a total waste of manpower and time," said the farmer, adding that lines of buyers on motorcycles and tractors formed as early as 3am.
Myanmar's economy, battered by five years of civil war since a military coup in 2021, is reeling under a fresh blow from the Iran conflict, which has driven up global oil prices and made domestic supplies scarce.
The pump price of diesel in Myanmar stood at 3,800 kyat (RM7.20) per litre by mid-March, up from 2,450 kyat (RM4.64) in February.
Scarcity has forced farmers such as Moe Win to turn to the black market, despite an exorbitant rate of about 12,000 kyat (RM22.74) a litre. But one that he is willing to pay to save his paddy crop.
"Occasionally, after queuing in town for two days, we have had instances where we could only buy five or six litres. But if we do not harvest the paddy in time, the crops will be destroyed, so we have to bear any cost," he said.
A spokesman for Myanmar's ruling junta did not respond to telephone calls to seek comment, although state media reported yesterday that its chief Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting this week it was working to resolve the fuel shortage problems.
World's fifth hungriest country
According to the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP), Myanmar is the world's fifth hungriest country, with 12.4 million people, or a quarter of the population, struggling to find food.
"Rising fertiliser costs and restricted fuel access for machinery threaten the upcoming cultivation season. Production costs are expected to double if instability continues," said the WFP's Myanmar director Michael Dunford.
He added that farmers are preparing for the major monsoon paddy season after harvesting dry-season crops.
Reuters has reported that over the last three years, Iran has become Myanmar's primary supplier of urea used in fertiliser, with annual imports ranging from 400,000 to 600,000 tons, some of which the junta also uses to make explosives.
This month, the WFP warned that global hunger levels could surge to an all-time record, pushing a further 45 million people into acute hunger, as United States-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28 drive up costs of food, fuel, and shipping.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation chief economist Maximo Torero said that in Myanmar, an immediate intervention is necessary to avert the almost certain risk of a drop in output and significant post-harvest losses.
"A poor harvest would reduce supply, driving prices even higher and putting basic staples out of reach for millions who have lost their jobs and livelihoods," he said.
'Waging a war for fuel'
Anticipating a fuel shortage soon after the war broke out, Myanmar's junta launched a sweeping rationing system for private vehicles early in March, featuring QR codes to deter multiple daily refills.
But the measure has led to massive congestion at gas stations, so that despite hours of queuing, some get only a fraction of their needs met.
Domestic airlines running low on jet fuel, much of which Myanmar imported from Iran, have suspended routes and imposed strict baggage limits, with ticket prices tripling on sectors still operational.
Myanmar depends on regional processing hubs for Middle East crude, like Singapore and Malaysia, for diesel imports that are crucial to its struggling economy and farm sector.
To reduce consumption, the junta has ordered state employees to work from home every Wednesday, while saying on Monday (March 23) that a stockpile sufficient for 50 days of supply remains.
Still, three farmers in towns and villages across the nation said they were struggling to buy fuel ahead of a critical harvest window.
They told Reuters that after relying on machinery for so long, it was impossible to immediately return to farm animals.
"Nowadays, we are practically waging a war just to get some fuel," added the Irrawaddy Delta's Win Zaw.
