Concerns are rising over Burma’s future rice self-sufficiency following the havoc wreaked by tropical cyclone Nargis on the country’s most important rice-growing area. The storm is also helping to keep rice prices near a record high.

Even before the cyclone sent a powerful tidal surge across vast swathes of the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta, the region’s rice production was far below its potential, its output depressed by state controls that gave farmers little incentive to boost yields.