Cyclone Nargis enough left over to sell on the market. Since Nargis hit right around harvest, a rice shortage and famine could result. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that Nargis impacted 65% of the country's paddies. They feel that the situation would be "devastating... if the recent disaster results in severe rice shortages." This might exacerbate the crisis already occurring, but it could be partially alleviated if fall and late summer harvests were good. Myanmar had since appealed for aid to assist with getting the rice planted, as its farmers had a 40- to 50-day window of opportunity before
2008–09 South Pacific cyclone season Category 2 cyclones. Cyclone Jasper also moved into the region from the Australian basin at its peak wind speeds of 100 km/h (65 mph) which made it a Category Two cyclone. For the first time since the 1994-95 tropical cyclone season there were no tropical cyclones that developed into a Severe Tropical Cyclone, which have winds of at least 120 km/h (75 mph). During September and October 2008, both RSMC Nadi and New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) issued seasonal forecasts which contained information on how many tropical cyclones that were predicted to develop within the