The Irrawaddy

Queues at fuel stations stretch through the night in Myanmar’s rice-growing Irrawaddy delta, as farmers scramble for scarce diesel to power tractors ahead of the crucial harvest season. The shortage, triggered by soaring global oil prices linked to the Iran conflict, is pushing the country’s fragile economy into deeper turmoil.

Diesel prices have jumped from 2,450 kyat (£1.16) a litre in February to 3,800 kyat (£1.80) by mid-March. On the black market, desperate farmers are paying more than three times that amount, with some reporting rates of 12,000 kyat (£5.71) a litre. “If we don’t harvest the paddy in time, the crops will be destroyed,” said one farmer, explaining why he was willing to pay any price.

Myanmar’s military junta has introduced rationing, requiring QR codes for refills, but the system has only created longer queues and frustration. Some buyers wait for two days to secure just a few litres. Domestic airlines, reliant on jet fuel imports from Iran, have suspended routes and imposed strict baggage limits, sending ticket prices soaring.

The crisis comes at a perilous moment. The World Food Programme warns that production costs could double if instability continues, threatening the monsoon paddy season and worsening hunger in a country already ranked the world’s fifth hungriest. More than 12 million people struggle to find enough food, and a poor harvest would push staples further out of reach.

Myanmar has relied heavily on Iran for fertiliser imports, but the war has disrupted supplies. Farmers say reverting to traditional methods, such as using animals instead of machinery, is no longer feasible after years of mechanisation. “Nowadays, we are practically waging a war just to get some fuel,” said Win Zaw, a farmer from the delta.

The junta insists it has stockpiles to last 50 days and has ordered civil servants to work from home one day a week to cut consumption. Yet on the ground, the reality is stark: long queues, empty pumps, and mounting fears that the next harvest could collapse.

For Myanmar’s farmers, the battle is not just against weeds or weather, but against a global energy shock that threatens to starve millions.

-2026-03-26

The junta don't care, never have,never will.

Got a complaint? I've got a bullet.

Visit the palace in Mandalay, many signs saying the Tatmadaw will crush any opposition.

And they do, brutally.