(BANGKOK) - Myanmar is at risk of famine in the aftermath of the cyclone which destroyed rice stocks in a major agricultural region, EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel told AFP TV on Wednesday.

"The fact that it is the rice bowl of Myanmar (that has been hit) and that all the stocks of rice have been destroyed -- there is a risk of a catastrophe at the level of famine," he said in an interview.

Michel was headed for Myanmar on Wednesday to press the ruling junta to open its doors to a full-scale emergency response to the cyclone which hit on May 3, leaving up to two million people in desperate need of food, water and shelter.

"I think that at 10 days, we are nowhere in the rehabilitation process. We are really very, very, very early (in that process)," he said.

"It's going to take weeks, months and years to rectify the effects."

Myanmar's junta has been condemned by world leaders including UN chief Ban Ki-moon for refusing to allow in foreign aid workers whose expertise is desperately needed to get aid to the remote and flooded disaster zone.

"The consequences if there is a lack of access, more people will die. People will live in very bad conditions," Michel said.

"I strongly believe that the authorities understand and they will respond positively to our mission."

Michel stressed that his trip, which is due to run until Friday, was not a political one.

"It is humanitarian. I didn't come here to make denunciations, accusations," he said.

"I'm here to ask the regime to help us to help them," he said. "We have the human resources, we have amounts of money. Now we need the access."

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