Junta to sell fertiliser at reduced prices for farmers in Arakan State

By Admin 20 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 July 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime will sell 5,000 tonnes of fertiliser to storm-hit farmers in Arakan State at a price significantly lower than current market rates to assist in their monsoon paddy cultivation.

The Arakan State Agriculture Department said it has been allocated 100,000 sacks of urea fertiliser weighing 5,000 tonnes from the department headquarters, with the fertiliser expected to arrive in Arakan State by the end of this month.

The fertiliser will be sold to the respective townships on a quota basis at a price of 30,000 kyats per sack. Priority will be given to farmers hit hardest by Cyclone Mocha or who are working in cooperation with the Agriculture Department, according to the head of the Arakan State Agriculture Department, U Oo Tun Myint.

“We want to supply fertiliser to all the farmers. But we are short [of the amount needed] and we can’t sell to all farmers,” he said.

In the market, fertiliser sells for between 90,000 kyats to upwards of 100,000 kyats or more per sack, a price much too high for many local farmers who also need to figure out how to pay for repairs to homes and other property in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.

Administrator U Tun Tin Soe of Cheinkalein Village in Rathedaung Township said: “If possible, I want fertiliser supplied to all farmers. It will help farmers during hard times.”

More than 27,600 cattle and farm animals died across Sittwe, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun and Pauktaw townships during the storm, and a significant quantity of paddy seed stocks were also damaged, according to the regime.

“The yield will decline if we don’t use fertiliser. So, fertiliser is necessary. But fertiliser prices have increased. I considered it for a long time before I decided to farm this year,” said U Oo Soe Thein from Thabyay Kan Village in Mrauk-U Township.

Although Arakan State has 1.2 million acres of arable farmland, the agricultural industry has been on the wane due to high prices of fertiliser, among other factors.

The Arakan State Agriculture Department has said it is targeting to cultivate more than 1 million acres of farm in Arakan State this year despite the negative impacts of Cyclone Mocha.