Agriculture Department to develop special farming zone across seven Arakan townships

By Admin 17 Mar 2023

DMG Newsroom
17 March 2023, Sittwe

Agricultural land upgrading activities will be developed in the Arakan State townships of Sittwe, Kyauktaw, Buthidaung, Thandwe, Kyaukphyu, Ann and Taungup, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture.

U Tun Myint, head of the Arakan State Department of Agriculture, said that 2,066 acres of farmland have been selected in the seven townships as an agricultural zone, and that these farms will be planted with a variety of crops.

“This project is developed to promote agriculture,” he said. “Normally, you can’t grow more crops if the farmland is not good. Now we will set an area and plant good varieties of paddy in that area. The Department of Agriculture will provide support for the improvement of agricultural land and good crop yields. We aim to earn a lot of income as farmers.”

In addition to paddy, black gram, onion, pepper and summer paddy will be planted on the designated agricultural zone farmland, to be implemented in April.

Farmers say that more needs to be done to develop agriculture in Arakan State.

“Farmers accept this designation of agricultural zones. If technology is upgraded, the paddy yield will also be good. Officials of the Department of Agriculture told the farmers that they would provide water. Farmers can grow many other crops, not just paddy,” said U Tun Soe Aye, the administrator of Thinpontan Village in Sittwe Township.

U Tun Myint said the land upgrading agricultural zone was selected as a priority in areas with access to fresh water, good transportation and interest from local farmers.

“If this project is successful, I want farmers to encourage other farmers to do the same. The Department of Agriculture will help the farmers as much as possible. If there is no market when the farmers grow crops, the Department of Agriculture will assist them,” he added.

The state’s Department of Agriculture said that it will provide land levelling, water supply, seeds and agricultural technologies for farmers who are part of the designated agricultural land.

Some 250 acres of land in Pyarlaechaung Village, Sittwe Township, and 100 acres of land in Alewyar Village, Kyaukphyu Township, which are included in the agricultural land upgrading zone, are currently being levelled as a pilot project.

U Khin Maung Gyi, a veteran Arakanese businessman, said he welcomed such activities in Arakan State and that it is necessary to do it realistically rather than paying short-term lipservice to small-scale farmers’ development.

“The government needs to provide long-term subsidies to farmers. It will be a practical policy only if the government supports the farmers for at least three to seven years. If not, it would be just a show to promote agriculture to the farmers for one year,” he contended.

According to figures from the state’s Department of Agriculture, 1,545 acres of summer paddy, 82,481 acres of groundnuts, 4,095 acres of sesame, 2,902 acres of sunflower, 21,338 acres of sesame and 37 acres of flower sesame were planted in Arakan State this season.

There are more than 1.2 million acres of arable farmland in Arakan State, of which more than 542,000 acres are winter crops, with the area under winter crop cultivation decreasing by 60 percent, according to the Arakan Farmer’s Union.

Arakan State’s agriculture industry is declining as people leave the fields due to lack of modern technology, capital and market guarantees.