Arakan State’s sugarcane industry in decline

By Admin 20 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 October 2023, Sittwe
 
Sugarcane was once grown on a commercial scale in Arakan State, but more and more growers are leaving the business due to low demand and prices, according to sugarcane growers.
 
“We only grow on a small scale now as there is no big demand. The number of sugarcane growers has become fewer and fewer year after year,” said sugarcane grower U Nu Maung from Laungpankya Village in Ann Township.
 
Many sugarcane growers in Ann Township have switched to other crops due to the declining profitability of sugarcane.
 
In Awyama Village, Ponnagyun Township, almost the entire village engaged in sugarcane growing in the past. But there are only around 20 sugarcane growers now.
 
Sugarcane grower Daw Su Su from Awyama Village said sugarcane farms in her village were destroyed by Cyclone Mocha.
 
“We can’t afford to regrow our sugarcane farms as the cost is high. Few people grow sugarcane these days because of low demand. We only grow it as an extra source of income,” she said.
 
Similarly, villagers in areas upstream of the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw Township have stopped growing sugarcane on a commercial scale, partly because a sugar factory in Kyauktaw town has stopped operating. 
 
Sugarcane grower U Zaw Zaw from Kyauktaw Township said: “There is only demand from those who sell sugarcane juice. So, few people grow sugarcane today. It is also partly because sugarcane growers were displaced by the fighting [between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army].”
 
Sugarcane growers in Arakan State have called on authorities to provide financial and technical assistance, as well as facilitating market access, in order to revive the sugarcane business. The declining fortunes of sugarcane growers mirror those of other farmers in Arakan State, who have faced difficult market conditions, rising input costs, and a dwindling labour pool in recent years.