Innlay Lake, situated in the southeast regionof Myanmar, constitutes the cradle of Innlay civilization and indeed informs every aspect of Innlay life.The Inthas or Lake-Dwellers have four means of livelihood. These are: agricultural cultivation on floating islands, fishing, textile weaving and blacksmithing. The industry that is most widely practiced and at which the Inthas are most widely practiced and at which the Inthas are most adept is the cultivation of vegetables and crops on floating islands. This is unique to Myanmar and in fact Innlay Lake is the only place in the world where such natural hydroponic agricultural ventures are successfully pursued on such an extensive scale.

The floating islands are constructed on beds of reeds, straw, elephant grass and sedge on which layers of moss and loam have been deposited. These floating islands can be very large, sometimes reaching dimensions of 200 feet by 15 feet. The Lake-Dwellers cut these up into the sizes they want and tow the pieces closer to their homes built on stilts in the water and their gardens whose boundaries are demarcated by stakes driven into the lake bottom.

Once constructed the floating gardens have a productive life of about 15 years, after which they lose their buoyancy and sink to the bottom.The Innthas use their boats in the work of clearing weeds, depositing loam or moss on the beds, erecting boundary posts, tying bamboo ropes and planting vegetables and crops. They are a very hardy people and can work strenuously all day long from their boats.

While a wide variety of vegetables can be grown on these floating gardens, the most important crop produced is that of tomatoes. The fragrance of tomato flowers pervades the floating gardens throughout the year. Their appetizing aroma, their attractive colour, their uniformly large size and their availability all year round have made Innlay tomatoes very popular and greatly in demand throughout Myanmar.

Fortunate visitors to Innlay may be privileged to see huge flat-bottomed boats loaded down to the waterline with fresh flowers, fruit and tomatoes destined for distant destinations, providing them with yet another picturesque view of the scenic beauty of Innlay Lake.