Ayadaw
More actions
| Ayadaw | |
|---|---|
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Dry Zone |
| Geography | |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Province/State | Sagaing Region |
| District | Monywa District |
| Coordinates | 22.28, 95.45 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 2,000 km² |
| Terrain | Plains of the Dry Zone; approximately Ayadaw and Myinmu townships |
| Climate | |
| Climate Type | Semi-arid; annual rainfall under 25 inches (635 mm) |
| Growing history | |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 0 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Ayadaw is a cannabis growing area in Sagaing Region, Myanmar, in Ayadaw Township (Monywa District) and on its border with Myinmu. It lies in the Dry Zone. Several villages there that once grew rice, beans, betel nut and cotton have grown cannabis since 2022–23.[1]
Setting
Ayadaw, Myinmu, Monywa and Chaung-U townships form one of three groups of townships in the Dry Zone that receive less than 25 inches (635 mm) of rain a year.[2] In December 2025 The Irrawaddy called Ayadaw and Myinmu strongholds of resistance forces under the National Unity Government (NUG), with weak rule of law and overlapping jurisdictions.[1]
Cultivation
Local people told The Irrawaddy that they moved to cannabis because of rising costs and pests in the betel nut plantations. A farmer from Myinmu compared the two crops: 1,000 betel trees cost about 3 million kyats to plant and betel sold for 20,000 kyats a viss (about 1.6 kg), while a cannabis plant cost 3,000 to 3,500 kyats and a viss of dried leaves and buds fetched up to 800,000. Residents estimated that each village grew at least five acres and that six neighbouring villages grew more than 30 acres between them. Some farmers hid the crop inside other fields or along fences; others planted it openly by the roadside. Buyers came directly to the villages. Residents also said that local defence, administration and law enforcement units helped to hand out the seed.[1]
Enforcement
An official of the Ayadaw Township administration said that resistance groups were involved in the growing. In 2023 the administration ran awareness programmes, warned farmers of legal action and burned fields, but it had not taken decisive action because that could cause friction with the groups involved. A member of a local defence force said eradication had largely failed and that both use and cultivation were increasing. The NUG's spokesperson, Nay Phone Latt, said that growing unauthorised crops would have legal consequences and that any unit found guilty would be punished.[1]
Accessions
No accessions documented yet.
Recent news
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See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Cannabis Takes Root in Sagaing as Myanmar's Post-Coup Drug Boom Expands". The Irrawaddy. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Khin Thein Oo (2016). "Spatial Analysis of Rainfall Variation in Dry Zone of Myanmar". Yadanabon University Research Journal. 7 (1) – via Myanmar Education Research and Learning Portal.