In this paper, we study the relationship between environmental uncertainty and performance in the rice supply chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar. Efficiency is one of the important performance indicators in both supply chain and agribusiness. In this regard, the objectives of the study are to identify the different sources of uncertainty perceived by the different actors in the supply chain, to measure the rice supply chain efficiency, and to study the impact of the environmental uncertainty on the supply chain efficiency. The data of 215 respondents is collected from the Ayeyarwaddy Region by using a purposive and stratified random sampling method, and we analyze this data via descriptive statistics, an exploratory factor analysis, data envelopment analysis (DEA), and Tobit regression analysis. The scores for the technical, pure, and scale efficiency show a very low performance of the rice supply chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region resulting from the fact that most of the rice businesses are too small and need to expand their operating size. We found that this global rice supply chain performance is significantly impacted by the planning and control uncertainty and the climate uncertainty. Therefore, mitigation initiatives must be developed such as financial insurance mechanisms and extension services should be widespread. Both aim to improve the impact of the climate adverse conditions and to increase the efficiency of resource utilization in the supply chain. Moreover, the actors should organize themselves in cooperatives such that the scale of operations can be increased and information is captured and shared between different parties in the supply chain. This is crucial to operational control and planning because a higher quality of information input will increase the quality of managerial decision making.

Rice production in Myanmar is constrained by biophysical and socioeconomic factors. Nonetheless, efficient farm practices can enhance productivity, farmers' profit, and the price and quality of marketed rice. This study analyzed the profitability and efficiency of rice production in the Ayeyarwaddy Region of Myanmar and identified the influencing socioeconomic characteristics and farm-specific characteristics. Primary data from 130 randomly sampled farmers in the Ayeyarwaddy Region were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, data envelopment analysis (DEA), and Tobit regression analysis. According to the average overall technical efficiency, farmers have an additional rice yield potential of 25 percent that can be attained by improving input utilization. The best practices benchmarked in the region showed that technical inefficiency is caused by excessive use of inputs, especially herbicides and animal power. Most rice farms in this study suffer from allocative and economic inefficiencies resulting from wrong combinations of input usages. The average economic efficiency level indicates that farmers can increase their profitability by 57 percent if they adapted to reduce input costs. Moreover, efficiency was significantly higher for farmers who were younger, better educated, more experienced, had access to agricultural extension services, and cultivated the Aye Yar Min variety. Efficiency can be improved by setting up farmers' cooperatives to increase the scale of operations. Moreover, the government should intervene to reduce input prices, control the quality of input seeds, and install an appropriate financial crop insurance mechanism. Effective and systematic agricultural extension services should be widespread to improve the efficiency and decision-making skills of rice farmers in the study area.

The rice industry is the most important agriculture subsector in Myanmar. However, far lower profits are gained from producing rice in Myanmar compared with those gained in other rice-producing ASEAN countries. This paper analyzes the operational constraints experienced by the different actors in the rice value chain in Myanmar. Both primary and secondary data on the rice value chain in Ayeyarwaddy Region, the main rice-growing area in Myanmar, were collected. The actors in the region suffer from constraints in material input, production, financial, distributional, and institutional. This study examines the actors’ profitability, together with their sociodemographic and operational characteristics, to provide proper policy guidelines to address constraints. The analysis revealed that the value chain in the study area is structurally inefficient, characterized by a large number of actors who face numerous constraints. Diverse policy recommendations are then put forward to improve the rice value chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region. Stakeholders need to implement projects that would increase the quantity and quality of rice produced, ranging from input quality control to more efficient extension services. Credit and sufficient working capital should also be provided to make infrastructure investments possible at each stage of the value chain in order to improve production and profitability.

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