IN Yangon Region, more than 250,000 acres of summer rice have been earmarked for cultivation. For the success of summer rice, irrigation water is essential, and the Ngamoeyeik dam is supplying the largest volume of irrigation water to summer rice fields.
Water plays a key role in crop cultivation, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation is carrying out activities such as rehabilitation of dams, irrigation canals, blocked streams and canals, to ensure smooth water distribution and supply irrigation water for the coming summer after this summer’s paddy season.
“For summer paddy, the Ngamoeyeik dam supplies the largest amount of water. In Taikkyi Township, the Tabu Hla dam supplies the most. In Yangon Region, irrigation water for summer paddy is supplied from the Ngamoeyeik, Tabu Hla, Lagunbyin, Kalihtaw and Bantbwaygon dams. If there is insufficient irrigation water, yields can decline. For fields in Hlegu Township, water is supplied from the Ngamoeyeik dam. To ensure the success of summer paddy, there are not only supplies from dams but also river water pumping systems and electric pumping systems. Compared to last year’s summer paddy, arrangements have been made together with the Irrigation Department to secure sufficient water to expand the plantation. Water is critically important for summer paddy,” said Daw Hla Kyi, Assistant Director of the Yangon Region Department of Agriculture.
In 2024-2025, the dam provided water to a total of 35,952 acres of summer paddy, 22,133 acres from Ngamoeyeik canals, 7,250 acres from sluice gates and 6,614 acres from electric-powered water pumping projects. Moreover, the dam also supplies water, 130 million gallons in summer and 90 million gallons in monsoon, to Nyaunghnapin and Aungdagun water treatment plants in Yangon.
The Ngamoeyeik Dam is located about two miles from Phaunggyi Village in Hlegu Township, Yangon Region, and it is 15,500 feet long, 75 feet in height and has a capacity of 180,000-acre feet of water. It supplies water to 33,852 acres of irrigated areas.
Officials also plan to distribute water from the Ngamoeyeik Dam (Mahuya Dam and Paunglin Dam), Lagunbyin Dam and Kalihtaw Dam in Hlegu Township and Tabu Hla Dam in Taikkyi Township for the farmers to expand summer paddy cultivation year by year. — Nyein Thu (MNA)/KTZH
