Myinmu Township
Myinmu Township | |
|---|---|
 Location in Sagaing district | |
 Location in Sagaing Region | |
  Myinmu Township Location in Burma | |
| Coordinates:21°56′N95°35′E/ 21.933°N 95.583°E | |
| Country |  Burma |
| Region | Sagaing Region |
| District | Sagaing District |
| Capital | Myinmu |
| Time zone | UTC+6.30(MST) |
Myinmu Townshipis atownshipin the southeast of theSagaing DivisioninBurma (Myanmar),west ofMandalay.The principal town isMyinmuwhich lies on the northern bank of theIrrawaddy River.[1]History of Myinmu is closely linked to theWorld War IIagainst theJapanese ArmywhenBritishGeneral SirDouglas Graceyoccupied the town after crossing the Irrawaddy River.[2]
The nearest settlement to the town of Myinmu isPaledan,a river village to the east. Other settlements of note in the township areAllagappato the west,Tizaungto the northeast andNgaizunseveral miles away on the opposite side of the river from the main town. Apart from the Irrawaddy River, theMu Riveralso flows about 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) away from the town. The nearest airport to the town is theMandalay International Airport(MDL), which is 69.7 kilometres (43.3 mi) away.[3]
Geography
[edit]Myinmu Township has an area of about 330 square miles (850 km2). It has about 35 village tracts.[4]
Mu Riverin the north-central Myanmar, runs on the right bank of Myinmu Township and joins the Irrawaddy River on the south, near this town; the river has a length of 175 km The river is navigable for boats up toShebo District.The Kabo Weir across this river is used to cross for approaching the Shwebo Irrigation Project which was built to meet the irrigation needs of this Dry Zone. The Kabo Weir however, was constructed by the British colonial administration between 1901–1907.[5][6]
History
[edit]Myingu township was occupied byPortuguesemissionariesin the late 19th century who establishedRoman Catholicmissionstations atNabetandChaungu.[7]
One of the earliest cooperatives in Burma was established in Myinmu Township in March 1905 with 19 members. Patterned on theSchulze–Delitzsch Cooperative Credit Societyestablished in 1850, that lead to 16 similar societies getting set up in other parts ofBurma.However, these credit societies had to closed own under stiff competition from the 55 societies of theReiffeisentype, which were concerned mostly with agricultural credits to meet farmers’ needs.[8]Myinmu was occupied by theBritish Indian Armyduring theBurma Campaignagainst the Japanese in 1944.[9]Douglas Graceyoccupied Myinmu on February 13, 1944 and crossed the Irrawaddy.[2]
Economy
[edit]Myinmu and the surrounding township rely on agriculture for their livelihoods and are located relatively close to the market inMandalay.The principal crop is rice and farmers in the township have been reported to have devised new ways to reduce weed problems by replacing alternate wet-seeded rice with transplanted rice.[10]In the past, the popular variety of Rice was not grown in Myinmu.Jowar(locally inBurmese language“pyaung”), called the greatmilletwas grown in the dry zones of Singiang District, which was the staple food of people inMyinmuandMyothatowns. There are two varieties of Jowar namely, theSanpyaung,the whitish green variety and theKunpayung.The whitish green variety has large stalks. The edible part of this variety is also used as substitute to rice.[11]
The agricultural economy of the township got a boost with assistance provided by theJapan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) to rearpigsand growmushroomsunder a cooperative pilot project launched by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, as a poverty alleviation programme in the dry zone under a development study on sustainable agriculture and rural development.[12]
Further, an irrigation project was built to provideirrigationfacilities to 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of land, which enabled double cropping on the lands with mixed crops. The earth dam (90 feet (27 m) in height and 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long) built for the purpose is called the Letpan Dam, which created a storage of 4,910 acre-feet (6,060,000 m3) to provide for irrigation.[13]
References
[edit]- ^Volume 18 of Imperial Gazetteer of India, Sir William Stevenson Meyer Gazetteers of British India, 1833-1962.Clarendon Press. 1908. p. 134.
- ^abRonand, Lewin (1999).Slim: the standardbearer: a biography of Field-Marshal the Viscount Slim.Wordsworth Editions. p. 222.ISBN9781840222142.
- ^"Myinmu".Traveling link.Retrieved2010-09-26.
- ^balwant singh (1993).Independence and democracy in Burma, 1945-1952: the turbulent years.Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan.ISBN0-89148-068-4.Retrieved2010-09-26.
- ^"Irrigation Works in Myanmar".Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-11-20.Retrieved2008-10-10.
- ^"Mu River".Encyclopædia Britannica online.Retrieved2010-09-26.
- ^Fernão Guerreiro, Charles Herbert Payne (2004).Jahangir and the Jesuits: With an Account of the Benedict Goes and the Mission to Pegu.Routledge.p. 276.ISBN0-415-34482-4.
- ^Turnell, Sean (2009).Fiery dragons: banks, moneylenders and microfinance in Burma.Issue 114 of Monograph series - Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, NIAS Press. p. 55.ISBN978-87-7694-040-9.
- ^Marston, Daniel (2003).Phoenix from the ashes: the Indian Army in the Burma Campaign.Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 147.ISBN0-275-98003-0.
- ^Naylor, Rosamond (1996).Herbicides in Asian rice: transitions in weed management.Int. Rice Res. Inst. p. 31.ISBN971-22-0093-0.
- ^Burma. Dept. of Agriculture (1910).Agricultural survey, Issues 1-4.Supdt., Govt. Print. and Stationery. p. 54.Retrieved2010-09-26.
- ^"Animal rearing, mushroom growing projects aimed at reducing poverty".Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20.Retrieved2010-09-26.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^"Internal Developments".Opening of Letpan Dam in Myinmu Township.Embassy Newsletter Issue No.1. January 2004. Archived from the original on May 18, 2006.Retrieved2010-09-26.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
External links
[edit]- Maplandia World Gazetteer- map showing the township boundary
