Myinmu Township

Myinmu Township has an area of about {{convert|330|sqmi|km2}}. It has about 35 village tracts.{{Cite book|url=http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=Monastery%20in%20Myinmu%20Township&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=bks:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp|title=Independence and democracy in Burma, 1945-1952: the turbulent years|author=balwant singh|accessdate=2010-09-26|publisher=Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan|year= 1993|isbn=0-89148-068-4}}

File:Mu River.JPG on the right bank of Myinmu]]

Mu River in 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 to Shebo 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.irrigation.gov.mm/works/Irrigationworksundermyanmarking.html|title=Irrigation Works in Myanmar|publisher=Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 2004|accessdate=2008-10-10|archive-date=2008-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120185026/http://www.irrigation.gov.mm/works/Irrigationworksundermyanmarking.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395715/Mu-River|title=Mu River|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica online|accessdate=2010-09-26}}

Myingu township was occupied by Portuguese missionaries in the late 19th century who established Roman Catholic mission stations at Nabet and Chaungu.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvEP_AV4JFMC&q=myinmu&pg=PA276

|author=Fernão Guerreiro, Charles Herbert Payne|title=Jahangir and the Jesuits: With an Account of the Benedict Goes and the Mission to Pegu|publisher=Routledge|page=276|year=2004|isbn=0-415-34482-4}}

One of the earliest cooperatives in Burma was established in Myinmu Township in March 1905 with 19 members. Patterned on the Schulze–Delitzsch Cooperative Credit Society established in 1850, that lead to 16 similar societies getting set up in other parts of Burma. However, these credit societies had to closed own under stiff competition from the 55 societies of the Reiffeisen type, which were concerned mostly with agricultural credits to meet farmers’ needs.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nxb9fwtVUcwC&q=myinmu&pg=PA55|author=Turnell, Sean|title=Fiery dragons: banks, moneylenders and microfinance in Burma|publisher=Issue 114 of Monograph series - Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, NIAS Press|year=2009|isbn=978-87-7694-040-9|page=55}} Myinmu was occupied by the British Indian Army during the Burma Campaign against the Japanese in 1944.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvzjBl1jxygC&q=myinmu&pg=PA187|author=Marston, Daniel|title=Phoenix from the ashes: the Indian Army in the Burma Campaign|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2003|page=147|isbn=0-275-98003-0}} Douglas Gracey occupied Myinmu on February 13, 1944 and crossed the Irrawaddy.

Myinmu and the surrounding township rely on agriculture for their livelihoods and are located relatively close to the market in Mandalay. 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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEI_ws_dFesC&q=myinmu&pg=PA31|author=Naylor, Rosamond|title=Herbicides in Asian rice: transitions in weed management|publisher=Int. Rice Res. Inst.|year=1996|page=31|isbn=971-22-0093-0}} In the past, the popular variety of Rice was not grown in Myinmu. Jowar (locally in Burmese language “pyaung”), called the great millet was grown in the dry zones of Singiang District, which was the staple food of people in Myinmu and Myotha towns. There are two varieties of Jowar namely, the Sanpyaung, the whitish green variety and the Kunpayung. The whitish green variety has large stalks. The edible part of this variety is also used as substitute to rice.{{Cite book|title=Agricultural survey, Issues 1-4|author=Burma. Dept. of Agriculture|page =54|accessdate=2010-09-26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtxMAAAAYAAJ&q=Myinmu+rice|publisher=Supdt., Govt. Print. and Stationery|year=1910}}

The agricultural economy of the township got a boost with assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to rear pigs and grow mushrooms under 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mmtimes.com/no458/n009.htm|title=Animal rearing, mushroom growing projects aimed at reducing poverty|accessdate=2010-09-26|publisher=Myanmar Times|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121120161222/http://www.mmtimes.com/no458/n009.htm|archivedate=2012-11-20}}

Further, an irrigation project was built to provide irrigation facilities to {{convert|25000|acre|ha}} of land, which enabled double cropping on the lands with mixed crops. The earth dam ({{convert|90|ft|m}} in height and {{convert|4000|ft|m}} long) built for the purpose is called the Letpan Dam, which created a storage of {{convert|4,910|acre.ft|m3}} to provide for irrigation.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mewashingtondc.com/ISSUE_NO_1_JAN2004_TEXT.htm |title=Internal Developments |work=Opening of Letpan Dam in Myinmu Township |accessdate=2010-09-26 |publisher=Embassy Newsletter Issue No.1 |date=January 2004 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060518183720/http://www.mewashingtondc.com/ISSUE_NO_1_JAN2004_TEXT.htm |archivedate=May 18, 2006 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.maplandia.com/burma/sagaing/myinmu/ Maplandia World Gazetteer] - map showing the township boundary

{{Sagaing Division }}

Category:Townships of Sagaing Region