Fuel shortage hurting farming

Myanmar is in urgent need of diesel fuel to make sure that machinery brought in to replace water buffaloes killed by Tropical Cyclone Nargis can be used to plant rice in the storm-devastated Irrawaddy delta, a senior U.N. official said.

U.N. Undersecretary-General Noeleen Heyzer said it would be too late to start a rice crop after the normal planting season in June and July.

Tens of millions of dollars have been donated to help victims of the May 2-3 cyclone, which killed more than 78,000 people, but the secretive regime has been reluctant to accept foreign relief experts in large numbers, and has restricted their movement.